Violent Echoes
by KillamriX88
Summary: It's been 27 years since the end of the S-Plan. Everything was peaceful until sekirei started going missing. When one turns back up, it soon becomes apparent that they'll once more need to fight or lose the world they worked so hard to create. - A sequel to "Violent Hearts."
1. Unchained

**So, here we are, one year after I finished Violent Hearts and I've been sucked back in. Well, Merry Christmas bitches. Now strap in... or go read Violent Hearts, because this is a sequel and it will make next to no sense if you don't. Also I'm making a tiny retcon as artfully as possible... right here at the start.  
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* * *

 **Unchained**

 _November 1, 2024. A student at the Mitaka Observatory in Tokyo sees a new star in the sky._

 _August 13, 2026. Various observatories have reported strange, distant objects. Repeated observations suggest the objects are moving._

 _December 24, 2028. MBI holds a press conference, confirming that the objects approaching Earth seem to resemble the original sekirei ship found on Kamikura island. It is unclear when they will arrive._

 _June 6, 2029. "Various objects have entered Earth's atmosphere. These objects are apparently ships. These would not be the first alien ships to land on Earth. According to experts at MBI, various ships have landed in the past. The first of these new ships landed, or rather crashed-"_

 _"Mom!" a teenage girl with bright red hair shouted, "you should come see this!"_

 **. . . July 29, 2048 . . .**

"I never liked that system, honestly."

"Yes, but it's necessary. And if we aren't hearing from them, it's a bad sign no matter how we look at it. Just disappearing is bad."

"Madoka... No, you're right. How long has it been now?"

"Four months for the first one. That's not counting the two weeks before we even noticed anything was wrong. Who knows how long it's actually been," Madoka told her. "Takami's been looking into it, but even our resources haven't turned up anything."

"That makes four sekirei who have vanished..." He was talking to Avaron. "Should we have Rini help?"

"If this does become serious, I do not want my daughter involved. Benitsubasa and I can handle whatever this is if it turns bad."

"Deciding things for me again, dad?" Of course she would choose to show up at that exact moment. Who was he kidding, she'd probably been eavesdropping for the last five minutes.

"Sticking your nose into things again, Rini?" Madoka smirked in amusement. The girl couldn't help herself.

"Something is happening to my little birds. Of course I am." The girl loved sekirei. It was no surprise, honestly. She had one father, as most children did, but also _five_ mothers – all of whom were sekirei. Benitsubasa was her biological mother, but the other four doted on her just as much... even after her siblings had been born.

The second they'd seen her, his other sekirei had started begging for their own children. He remembered once upon a time when he hadn't wanted children at all. Sekirei were a force of nature though – nothing stayed the same after they touched it.

Five children so far, and he was sure they weren't done with him yet and he was in his late 40s. They were going to give him a heart attack at this rate.

"Fair enough. Fine, fine, you can help, but I don't know what you can do. We don't _know_ anything. They're just... gone," Madoka told her. Rini ran a hand through her long, bright-red hair with worry.

"Another one, right? Didn't make his first check-in this month?" she asked. Sekirei had to report back twice a month. They were too powerful to be let loose, not to mention what other people might want with them. It was for their protection too, especially since they'd been tuned to be weaker than even the original 108.

"Right. Hyoushi, number 207," Avaron said. To keep it simple, they'd just continued from 108. The pillar sekirei from the first new ship, for example, was number 109. "That makes four in total."

"Right. Sadashi, Sairiko, Moetatsuka, and now Hyoushi." Rini began pacing back and forth. "Dammit! This is pissing me off just thinking about it!" She was a lot smarter than her mother, and even him, but she still got loud when her fuse burned down. She was definitely their child.

And just like her mother she had intense, red eyes. He'd been quite shocked when she was born. Child of a sekirei or not, she was still supposed to be mostly human... and yet those eyes.

"Look, calm down. We _will_ find them. Maybe they just-"

"What? Ran off? No! I know them, they wouldn't do that! None of them, they were good kids! I grew up with them! We've been over this! I know those four for sure wouldn't do that!"

"All right, all right. I believe you. In case you've forgotten, _I_ watched them grow up too. I just don't want it to be... something worse." He pulled his daughter in close, wrapping his arms around her.

"Madoka... you should look at this." He let go and turned around. Avaron had sat down at his office computer and had a video playing on his large display screen. It was a live feed of something happening in the city. Law-enforcement had a building surrounded. "It's... a sekirei. I-I think it's one of the ones that went missing."

"Crap." He then heard rapid footsteps going into the distance. "Rini, n-" He spun around, but it was too late. His daughter was gone. "Crap..."

 **. . .**

No way. No way in hell, not on her watch. Her car screeched to a halt as close to the scene as she could get, electric motor winding down as she pulled herself out of the vehicle. If it was a sekirei, then MBI forces would be there soon. Their "private military" had been disbanded after the Kouten incident, but they'd managed to put together a small task-force for the purpose of dealing with sekirei.

She didn't want to wait that long.

Disregarding the yellow-tape and line of officers, she stormed toward the front door of the building. It looked like a coffee shop. Why was a sekirei attacking a coffee shop?

She almost made it inside before an officer got to her.

"Ma'am, you can't go in there, are you crazy?" he grabbed her wrist.

"Hey! Back off, I'm with MBI! I'll take care of this! See?" She was in her lab-coat and she pointed to her ID card.

"MBI or not, you can't handle _that_! She's a monster!" He began to drag her away.

"Monster?" she hissed under her breath. He shouldn't have said that. She tore herself from his grasp, kicked him in the side of the knee, and then jabbed him in the throat. He was wearing body armor, but armor didn't cover those spots. He staggered back, choking.

Her mother had taught her well.

Before she could get arrested for assaulting an officer, she darted into the shop where none dared to follow.

She heard an angry roar as the door shut behind her. "I told you to stay out! I'll kill them!" She knew that voice.

"Sairiko?" Rini called out. She rounded a corner beyond some booths and saw her there. She had civilian clothes on, including a light vest with a fur-lined collar. She had short, silver-blue hair, similarly colored eyes and a massive, cleaver like sword in her hands. She shouldn't have had that. "I-it's me, Rini!"

"I don't care what your name is! Fuck off!"

"Wh-" She didn't know her? Memory loss? She'd been tuned... and improperly at that. MBI had figured out years ago how to avoid the memory loss side-effect. "C-calm down! I won't hurt you. Hell, I don't think I _can_ hurt you!" She held her arms up and out, showing that her hands were empty. "Hey, that's a cool sword. Where'd you get it?" Of course Rini had an idea. Sairiko's imprints included a giant sword just like it. But who had made it? The imprints only included a blueprint and the knowledge to use it. Sairiko didn't have rapid, matter-forging powers like Oriha.

"I swear to god, if you don't leave _now-"_ Sairiko hefted her massive sword with one hand, and in her other hand she had a woman in a choke-hold. Rini vaguely recognized her as a coworker from MBI. Was that what had set her off? Was she after people from MBI?

"Hey, hey! Let her go, this isn't like you!"

"You don't even know me!"

"Look, punk!" Rini's eye twitched. "Whether or not you remember, we fucking grew up together! I stole snacks from the cafeteria for you on a regular basis, you greedy pig! And I always took the blame when we got caught! I'm not going anywhere!"

She saw Sairiko's eye twitch. Her grip began to slacken. Tuning rarely wiped a sekirei's memory completely – she just had to find the right triggers. Even Saki had eventually recalled a few bits and pieces.

"GAH! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Of course, it didn't help if what was triggered was a temper tantrum.

"Oh shi-" Rini braced herself as the MBI employee was turned into a projectile, thrown right at her. She caught the woman, but the two of them went skidding across the floor. "R-run..." she coughed out weakly and pushed the woman off her. Somehow the woman was able to crawl to the door and was pulled the rest of the way out by an officer, but there was no help for Rini herself.

Sairiko was on the warpath, charging at her. She barely rolled out of the way as the blade came crashing down, smashing the floor where she'd been lying. She got to her feet, but had to bend back before her head got cut off. She wasn't going to last very long at that rate. She turned and ran to the counter. She saw a barista cowering behind it... she couldn't hide back there, she'd just draw another civilian into the crossfire.

However, there _was_ an abandoned cup of coffee on the counter. She grabbed it and spun around, tossing it into Sairiko's face.

"AAAGH!" Sairiko staggered back, throwing an arm across her face and trying to wipe the burning liquid away.

She had only a few seconds to come up with a plan. She pulled a syringe from her pocket and then pulled off her coat. Just as Sairiko pulled her arm from her face, Rini threw her coat at her, the billowing garment blocking Sairiko's view... until it was slashed apart in one go.

But it was enough. Rini darted in from the side, grabbing Sairiko and stabbing the syringe into her neck. "ENOUGH!"

"Wh-what did you do?" Sairiko froze.

"Nothing, yet, but this is an auto-injector! I just have to press the button and you go down, got it? But I'd much rather _talk_!"

"T-talk? I have nothing to talk about! MBI needs to burn! That includes y- OW! Did you just stomp on my foot?" Sairiko's eyes watered.

"Yes! Don't insult your best chance of getting out of this in one piece!" Rini glowered.

"Why do you care, you're part of the problem..." Sairiko scoffed.

"I love sekirei! So that means I love you, you ungrateful brat!"

"B-brat?" Sairiko's cheeks flushed.

"I'm nearly five years older than you!" Rini told her. Rini was turning 24 in a month. "You're nineteen, right?"

"I... I... I think so... Ugh, my head hurts!"

"Look, just tell me what's going on, OK? We can figure this out. We've been looking for you. You have a lot of people worried."

"Wh-whatever." Sairiko averted her eyes. Rini pulled the injector from Sairiko's neck, a tiny dot of blood appearing as the needle came free.

"See? Relax. I won't touch you again, OK? Good?" she said as she stepped back.

"You're an idiot." But the sekirei made no move to attack. "I-I-" A crack rang out and suddenly blood sprayed from Sairiko's chest. Glass from the coffee-shop window clattered to the ground in pieces. "Wh-wh-" She collapsed to the floor, blood pooling beneath her.

Only a second later, the men outside poured in, guns at the ready, already taking aim at the fallen Sairiko.

Rini got in their way without a second thought. "NO! BACK OFF!"

"Someone get her out of here!" The one in charge ordered and another moved forward to collect her. He soon found the butt of his own rifle smashing into his nose before she swept his legs out from under him.

Of course, that only meant that at least half of the remaining guns were now aimed at her heart.

"One more move and you're dead! Hands up!" The leader ordered. The next sound was that of the coffee-shop's door being forcefully removed from its hinges.

"Excuse me?" a voice asked, laden with icy malice. "Try that again, I don't think I heard you right."

"Oh. Hi mom..." Rini waved at the newcomer.

"Put those toys down. They won't work on me." Her mother shoved one man aside and flicked the gun out of another's grasp, sending it spiraling into a wall so hard it stuck fast.

At that point, just about everyone recognized her mother. The men collectively just about pissed their pants and went scurrying from the building.

"Rini." Benitsubasa crossed her arms. She hadn't changed much over the years. Her hair was slightly longer, but she said her outfit was like her uniform and she wouldn't upgrade it. She had a few lines around her mouth, mostly from frowning at Rini when she was disobedient, or so she said.

"Mom." Rini nodded.

"The fuck?"

"M-mom?"

"What is this mess and why are you in the middle of it!?" Benitsubasa glared up at Rini – she'd inherited height from her father rather than her mother – and jabbed her in the chest... something else she hadn't gotten from her mother. Benitsubasa said once if she hadn't personally given birth to Rini, she'd have sworn she was Kaie's daughter.

Most people actually _did_ think she was Kaie's daughter, while Kaie's daughter was often thought to be Benitsubasa's. Family outings were awkward...

"N-never mind that! Sairiko needs help!" Rini was about to rush to the fallen sekirei's side, but the girl was already rising to her feet, sword held tightly in her grasp.

"Get... away..." Sairiko growled even as blood pooled around her teeth and stained her lips.

"No, stay still, you're hurt!"

"BACK OFF!" She brandished the blade, eyes wide with fury even as blood trickled from her mouth.

"No!" Rini surged forward, past the blade and grabbed Sairiko's face, staring hard into her eyes. "No more fighting! Drop it!"

"N-no... I..." Now the injured girl just looked shocked. Her arms went slack and the blade clattered to the floor. She slowly sank to her knees and just nodded dumbly.

"Huh." Benitsubasa tilted her head. "You always were good at dealing with them."

"Can you get us out of here safely?" Rini glanced back at her mother.

"Kid, it's _me_. Is that even a question?"

 **. . .**

Rini winced as her father entered the room. She was in one of MBI's infirmary rooms. They had limited on site facilities aside from their full-sized hospital.

Her father didn't look happy.

"Well, crisis averted. Again." He frowned at her. "Why don't you listen?"

"Well, _technically_ I was out of the room before you could say anything. A-and my phone was dead-"

"Rini, your phone was made by MBI. The battery lasts nearly a month." He looked at her in a way that could only be described as scolding.

"B-but if I hadn't been there Sairiko could be dead right now!" Rini argued. "Wh-why did they even shoot her in the first place? I got her to stop!"

"Maybe they were on edge after you beat up one of their men. Which I almost _wasn't_ able to make go away, so you know!" He sighed and shook his head. "Part of me wishes you'd failed so I could make you listen to me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't so let's focus on the bigger issue." Rini crossed her arms.

"Fine." Her father took a deep breath. "She should be waking up soon, so let's hope she has some answers." He looked over at Sairiko where she lay in her bed.

Soon turned into an hour, but she did eventually wake up. She did so with tears in her eyes.

"Ah! What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Rini was at Sairiko's side in a flash.

"I... I was dreaming..." The sekirei sniffled. She then looked at Rini. "You were in it... I-I... It felt like I was remembering things. I'm sorry..." she hiccuped. "I-I tried to... h-hurt... kill..."

"No!" Rini hugged her, holding her close. "I'm just glad you're OK." She went to let go, but Sairiko didn't. Eventually, she became all to aware of the seconds crawling by. "U-um... Sairiko?"

"You smell good..." Sairiko mumbled. Her eyes then went wide and she finally pulled away with a startled jerk. "Um, I-I mean... Um... Sorry..."

"N-no, it's fine. Uh-"

"Hold on." Madoka stepped over and grabbed Rini, pulling her away from the bed. Sairiko tilted her head in confusion. Madoka then pushed Rini closer and Sairiko squirmed uncomfortably and turned away. She relaxed only when Madoka again pulled Rini away, but then shyly bit her lip when Rini was once more pushed forward.

"Dad. What. Are. You. DOING?!" Rini pulled free.

"Oh boy..." Madoka sighed and shook his head. "Just... don't worry about it for now." He turned to Sairiko. "All right, listen up. You've been... altered-"

"Yeah, by _you_!" Sairiko spat and refused to look him in the eye.

"And by someone else," Madoka growled impatiently. "I'm not going to waste time arguing about what MBI did, we need to know who messed with you more recently. You went off the rails and attacked people because of it. You nearly killed my daughter."

"I-I-" Sairiko immediately lost what little fire had ignited within her. "I didn't really... He..."

"He?" Madoka raised an eyebrow.

"S-some old man, OK?"

"A name?"

"He never said. He just kept talking about how MBI needed to be undone and how we were _his_ legacy, not yours."

"Hold on." Madoka grabbed a nearby tablet and a few moments later held it up to her. "This man? It's an old picture, but-"

"It... could be. Y-yeah, the face looks right."

"Dad?" Rini looked at him in confusion. He handed her the tablet and her jaw dropped. "Minaka? I thought-"

"He escaped a long time ago. Just disappeared. I guess I should have known better than to think that something like a lack of funding or laws would stop him," Madoka told her.

"So he really did disappear. I can't believe they let him out of prison in the first place!" Rini spat.

Madoka shook his head. "How do you think _I_ feel?"

"He told us... that MBI was ruining us. That they were making us weak and controlling us," Sairiko said, looking conflicted.

"It's complicated. In a way he's right, but he's not telling you the whole story." Madoka sighed. "We are weakening you, but in that way we're granting you more freedom. Society at large would never let you live in the world freely if they were constantly in fear of you. The only way to stop that from happening was to weaken sekirei so that they weren't a threat. Even then, we still keep tabs on all of you so that we know you're safe and not causing trouble. After that, we try to be as hands off as possible."

"Minaka is the real monster! He made a game out of it! He had sekirei killing each other for his 'research!'" Rini growled. "My mother was one of them and she told me everything! Father was part of it too."

"Wh-what?" Sairiko gasped.

"We tried to keep all of that a secret from most sekirei. The past is too painful and we didn't think there was a need for you to know about something you weren't involved with. Maybe that was wrong, I don't know. We just wanted to move past it." Madoka looked away. "Should have known it'd be impossible."

"Do you know where he was keeping you?" Rini asked.

Sairiko shook her head. "I don't remember being taken there, and when he took me back to the city I was unconscious. He said that he had to keep everything a secret, even from us."

"So there were others?" Madoka asked.

She nodded. "Right before I left, he brought in someone new. Including me, there were four of us."

"So Minaka took all of them." Rini narrowed her eyes. "I'll kill him!"

"Get in line." Madoka rolled his eyes. "Anyway, why don't you head home? Everyone is worried about you. I'll keep an eye on Sairiko. Nothing more we can do at the moment anyway. I need time to think."

"Throwing me to the wolves, huh?" Rini's eye twitched.

"Yep!" Madoka winked.

"All right." Rini hung her head and then placed her hand on Sairiko's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be back to check on you soon!"

"O-O-OK..." Sairiko shrank back almost fearfully.

"Wh-"

"Get going." Madoka waved for her to go. Hesitantly she did so, but glanced back in confusion, looking between the two until her father once more urged her to leave.

 **. . .**

Rini took a deep breath and let herself into her father's house. She'd recently moved out on her own, but she knew what her father had meant when he said "go home."

One might think her father was a man who lived a rich, extravagant life judging by his massive house, but that wasn't quite the case. He simply _needed_ the space to fit his five sekirei, his children, and her "aunt" Avaron and her own sekirei.

That said, they did have a pretty comfortable life.

She turned around to close the door behind her and heard steps charging toward her. She sighed and braced herself. A weight crashed into her back and arms went around her waist.

"Rini-chan! You're OK! I was so worried! Madoka called me and told me you were risking your life playing hero!"

"S-sorry, Sukaime." Rini chuckled nervously. While she considered all of them her mothers, Benitsubasa was the only one she called mom to avoid confusion.

"I'd scold you if I thought it would make a difference."

"Sorry... Kaie..." That was two moms down. She turned around, Sukaime still dangling from her, and saw all of them staring her down. "Alright, lay it on me."

"What would we have done, huh? Did you even think about your brother and sister?" Oriha took her turn next.

"I heard you pulled it off. Good job." Saki gave her a thumbs up. She always spoke in the same, relaxed monotone. Apparently that sort of speech pattern had become a habit after her memory loss. In reality, she was almost more mischievous than Sukaime.

"SAKI!" Sukaime whined loudly. "You always encourage her!"

"No but seriously, you're a fucking moron." Her brother stuck his head into the room. Being Saki's child, he shared her plain, brown hair, though he had his father's blue eyes.

"Katsurou, don't be rude." Saki scowled at him. Katsurou, Katsu meaning victory – Saki's perverted little joke about beating Sukaime to having a child with Madoka.

"I think Rini did the right thing! She protected Sairiko-chan!" Rini's petite little sister meandered into the room next. Her blonde hair was tied back into two ponytails.

"Thank you, Nariko." Rini crossed her arms.

"Yes, and she almost got killed _by_ Sairiko in the process." Katsurou scoffed and walked away.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Rini grumbled.

"So now we can find the other missing sekirei, right?" Nariko asked.

"Unfortunately it won't be that easy." Rini sighed and her shoulders sagged. "She didn't know anything useful."

Sukaime then finally slid off of her. "Well. That sucks."

"Err, there was one other thing." Rini fidgeted nervously. Judging by how they were acting, Madoka hadn't mentioned one little detail. "We think Minaka is behind it."

The room fell eerily silent.

"Excuse me?" Kaie's eyes narrowed. She looked positively livid.

"In the words of my darling Benitsubasa... I'mma fuckin' kill him." Sukaime hissed.

"I don't even remember him and I hate him," were Oriha's thoughts on the matter.

"Who?" Nariko tilted her head.

"The original founder of MBI. He's the one responsible for the Sekirei Plan. We don't like talking about him," Rini explained.

"Well he can't be all bad! Sekirei are amazing!" Nariko argued.

"Let me put it this way," Saki spoke up. "Minaka reprogrammed me, wiping my memories in the process, and at the time my sole purpose in life was to kill Benitsubasa."

"Oh."

"Though I guess I _am_ pretty cool now," Saki mused.

"Because of him I had to terminate my sister," Kaie said flatly, putting an end to any discussion on whether or not Minaka had any redeeming features. "No matter what, there's no forgiving him or looking at the silver lining. He needs to be done away with, and I swear to god I will kill him if I think it's necessary. I'm not letting him walk again just because he has a high IQ!"

"Don't worry, mom and dad will take care of it and I'll be helping!" Rini assured her. "He won't get away with this."

"Madoka and Benitsubasa are one thing, they're used to danger, but I don't like you being involved. I don't want you going through the kinds of things we had to." Sukaime placed a hand on her arm. "The stories might seem fun, but it wasn't as fun when we had to live through it. We had to hurt people and they hurt us too."

"That's just it! I don't want anyone getting hurt! My only goal is to save the sekirei and lock Minaka away!"

Sukaime looked up at her, eyes filling with tears. Soon, Rini was assaulted by another rib-crushing hug. "My little girl is so brave!" she wailed.

"A-and... m-mom will... protect me... assuming you don't... ch-choke the life out of me..." Rini wheezed through a strained smile.

"Whoops. Sorry. Sekirei strength." Sukaime quickly let go.

"I still don't like it. Until this is taken care of, I'm going with you when you head to work," Saki said in a rare moment of complete seriousness.

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"But you _do_ need someone who can restrain a berserk sekirei. I can either hold you down and stop you from running off the next time something happens or you can let me go with you and help you." Saki then grinned. "And besides, everyone might say your mother is the strongest, but it's actually me. You want my help."

"Fine, but if you piss me off I'm telling mom you said that."

Saki's grin faded rapidly. "Got it."

 **. . .**

It was a week later and Rini was busy giving Sairiko a tour around the MBI building. She was hoping it would jog the sekirei's memory. So far it was just a few bits and pieces. It didn't help that the girl was being uncharacteristically nervous.

"S-so... what do you do here?" Sairiko asked shyly.

"Hm? Oh, I'm Assistant Director of Sekirei Operations. Not much of a job anymore now that most of you are all grown up. Only three of you are still young enough to need anything from me at this point."

"Assistant? To who?"

"Avaron. She took over a little while back. It used to be my grandpa, Satoru, who was in charge, but he stepped down when he got too old to keep up with you." Rini chuckled. "I've had the job since I was fourteen! But I've been running around with all of you since I was seven, and I was only four when your ships came down."

"I-I see..." Sairiko looked down. "W-were you involved with any of the... tuning?"

"Nope. I know a lot about it, but I was too young when most of that was going on. Your tuning was finished by the time you were ten."

"That's... umm..." She suddenly stopped, seeming to spot something. Rini followed her gaze to see Madoka and Benitsubasa approaching them.

"Mom? Dad?" Rini tilted her head in confusion. "Need something?"

"Yeah, we need to talk to you two," Madoka said.

"OK..." Rini said hesitantly. After sharing a concerned glanced with Sairiko, the two were led to her father's office and the door was shut behind them. "Um, what is this about?"

"You may have noticed that Sairiko's been acting a little strange?" Madoka suggested.

"Um, I guess." Of course she had, but she hadn't wanted to make the sekirei uncomfortable. Well, _more_ uncomfortable... "Why?"

"She's got the hots for you," Benitsubasa spoke bluntly. Rini raised an eyebrow in confusion. How could that be? But when she looked at the girl in question, her face was scarlet and she had shrunk back.

"Wh-what?!" Rini exclaimed in disbelief.

"More specifically, she's reacting to you," Madoka told her.

"Reacting?"

"Yes. Sekirei used to be intended for military conflict, but they were more powerful than their creators, so they would be 'winged' and bound to an ashikabi, like me. Reacting was so a sekirei could at least be paired with someone they'd hopefully be more compatible with. Now that they don't need to fight anymore, we decided to try and remove that from them so they could live normally. Some of the people working on it called it 'humanization,'" Madoka explained. "We succeeded, which is why you haven't ever seen a sekirei acting like this before."

"Let me guess. Minaka undid all your hard work?" Rini frowned. Madoka nodded. "So how do we fix it?"

"Well, if she's reacting that means she hasn't been winged..."

"So the quick and easy way is to wing her," Benitsubasa said. "The other option is sticking her with needles until the problem goes away." She shuddered. Everyone in the room joined her in squirming uncomfortably at the thought.

Rini blushed. "So um, w-wing her? Wait... wouldn't that mean I-"

"Have to kiss her? Yeah." Benitsubasa grabbed Madoka's shirt. "These days I can control it, but for you it'd look something like this." She yanked Madoka in and kissed him, and a moment later light began to pour from her back and then sharks of light burst into the air around her in the shape of wings. Actual wings.

"Whoa..." Rini had honestly never seen something like it before. "Wh-why do you hide them?"

"Because when I don't try to control it I get-"

"It causes a commotion in public," Madoka quickly interrupted. "Don't wanna slip up on accident."

"O... K..." Rini was sure her father was hiding something, but chose to move on. "Um, is it hurting her?" She looked at Sairiko with concern. She certainly looked uncomfortable, as if she was having a nasty fever.

"Not... physically," Benitsubasa said. "I wasn't kidding when I said she has the hots for you. I'm sure right now she'd like nothing more than to jump you and-"

"Wing herself," her father once more interrupted with a scathing glare aimed at her mother.

"What? There's nothing wrong with the passion of a sekirei!" Benitsubasa snapped back at him. "I jumped _you_! You got a problem with that?"

"This is our daughter we're talking about! It's different!"

"Wow, this is really happening..." Rini twitched awkwardly as she watched her parents bicker. "OK! That's enough! I don't need to hear about who jumped who! Lalalalala!" Rini stuck her fingers in her ears.

"Sorry," Benitsubasa mumbled, looking a little embarrassed.

"Anyway, this bigger issue is that winging is permanent. We know a few ways to undo it, but they aren't particularly pleasant. Fortunately we haven't had a reason to do it yet," Madoka told her. "So unless you plan on marrying her... I'd avoid winging her."

"Oh." Rini shifted her weight nervously and looked at Sairiko.

"I wouldn't mind..." Sairiko mumbled in a tiny voice.

"Huh?" Rini's eyes shot wide.

"I can't help it!" Sairiko blurted out and then dashed from the room.

Rini shook her head, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Was it this awkward for you?"

"Your mother dragged me into an alleyway and then benched a dumpster. You tell me," Madoka said deadpan.

"Right..."

 **. . .**

Rini was on her lunch break the following day. She sat beside Saki on a bench in a park. Apparently it was the same park where her father had first met Kaie.

"What should I do?" Rini asked, completely ignoring her food.

"Well, Sukaime would say that if she's cute, just go for it," Saki replied simply.

"And what do _you_ say?" Rini asked, but Saki just shrugged. "Ugh! It's not that easy! If I wing her I'm stuck with her forever! I-it's probably best if they just make it so she can't react anymore..."

"Do you think that's what she wants, though?"

"So? I didn't want to be stuck in a cast for months on end when I broke my leg, but I did it anyway! Besides, the whole reacting thing isn't natural! It's something Minaka did!" Rini crossed her arms.

"Don't be stupid." Saki frowned. "Reacting was around way before Minaka got involved. Sure, it's still not 'natural,' but it's been something sekirei go through for a long time. Furthermore, she's reacting to _you_ specifically. There's something special about you that's drawing her to you." She giggled. "If you're worried that you aren't right for each other, well, if she's reacting to you then that's a lot of the work done for you."

"Well, yeah, b-but..."

"Ohhh, I see the problem." Saki nodded knowingly. "You had a boyfriend in high school, right?"

"Saki... I've had like _seven_ boyfriends in as many years." Rini sighed. "I just didn't introduce you to most of them because they sucked."

"Because you don't like men?" Saki guessed.

"Because they were shallow and just wanted to test drive the pretty, rich girl," she grumbled.

"Oh..." Saki frowned. "Well, look, let me just tell you what it means to wing a sekirei. After that, it'll be up to you to figure things out."

"OK." Rini slouched where she sat. It seemed this was the best she would get. In reality, though, she shouldn't have expected much more. Somehow it seemed that determining Sairiko's fate had become her responsibility.

"It's permanent, in case they didn't already tell you that. Though, I guess it wouldn't be much of an issue if it wasn't..." Saki looked her in the eye. "She'll be devoted to you, because her life will be intertwined with yours. She'll be able to feel what you feel and her potential will be determined by her bond with you."

"That's how mom beat you the first time, right?"

Saki went still before taking a deep breath. "You're... not wrong..."

"Sorry."

Saki decided to just move on. "If that doesn't sound dramatic enough, well, there's one other thing."

"What?" Sharing emotions seemed pretty dramatic. What else could there be?

"Sekirei terminate when their ashikabi dies."

Rini decided that was plenty dramatic enough. "N-no way... th-that means if..." She had an awful thought, but decided to put that panic attack aside for later. "Ugh, that's way too much. I'm telling dad to forget it. Whatever Minaka did to Sairiko, I'm gonna make sure they undo it!"

"And then we come back to what Sairiko wants-"

"She doesn't know what she wants! Her head is all messed up from reacting!"

"Well... I guess it's pretty clear what you want." Saki scowled and shook her head. "You- Ugh, hold on." Her phone was ringing. "Yes? What?" Saki's eyes went wide. "OK. We'll head there right away. Yes I am bringing Rini. What? She pulled it off last time and I'll be there too! Now you're just wasting time... No... I can... Madoka... Madoka, please..." Saki then sighed and hung up the phone.

"Did you just 'fuck-you-button' dad?" Rini raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Now let's go."

 **. . .**

The last thing Rini expected was to find that she recognized the place they ended up at. It was a little general store. It was the same store her dad and Kaie had used to work at before she was born.

There was no way it was a coincidence.

"This is starting to get a little too personal." Rini grimaced. The large perimeter of police vehicles and the smell of smoke did not make her feel any better. "What the hell is going on?"

"Only one way to find out." Saki led her through the police blockade. Fortunately, this time Rini didn't have to literally fight her way past the men in uniforms. They were plenty happy to let a sekirei by to deal with a sekirei problem.

"All right, nobody fucking shoot this time, got it?" Rini shouted once they were past them. "I don't care what happens!"

"Let me go first, OK? I'll call you in once it's safe," Saki said and headed toward the door, but then halted. "Also, stand back just in case."

It turned out to be good advice. Moments later, the door burst open and a figure came flying out, skidding across the pavement. She recognized her quickly as Moetatsuka. Her golden hair that seemed to shimmer like fire and her amber eyes were unmistakable. She wasn't as tall as Rini, but her figure was strong and curvaceous.

"Oh no..." Knowing what she knew now, she realized how dangerous this could get. "Hey! Pull the perimeter back! WAY back!" She quickly shouted to the police. Moetatsuka was effectively one of the "single numbers" of the new sekirei, and if Minaka had undone MBI's safety tuning...

Moetatsuka stood up, not seeming phased by her forced trip out of the store. She growled and the pavement at her feet began to _melt_. Glowing cracks began to spider out from her feet and soon Rini could feel the heat radiating off of the sekirei even from a distance.

"'Tatsuka! It's me, Rini! Calm down!" It turned out that drawing attention to herself was an awful idea. The ground around Moetatsuka burst, glowing hot shards of rocks and gravel flying into the air and then shooting at her like a shotgun blast.

She would have been dead on the spot if not for Saki. Saki zipped out of the store and tackled her clear of the burning spread.

"Shut up and stay out of the way!" Saki snapped at her and then stood up. "I might have to hurt her..." she warned and then swords popped into existence around her. She fired them off at Moetatsuka, but the other sekirei raised her hand and the blades collided with a wall of heat that burnt the blades down into slag almost instantly. "Right..."

Rini saw light begin to come from Saki. Right where her mother had sprouted wings, light began to pour from her back. Soon after, her entire body began to glow.

Rini could only stare in awe at what she was seeing. Or, perhaps it was what she wasn't seeing. Saki vanished from her sight, becoming a barely perceptible blur. She appeared beside Moetatsuka just long enough to back-fist her off her feet and across the street.

Moetatsuka slumped to her rear at the base of a building. She raised her head, glaring furiously at Saki. She dug her fingertips into the sidewalk, super-heating the concrete. She then shattered it, sending shards of red-hot concrete at Saki.

Saki summoned two short blades and swiped any shard that threatened to hit her out of the air.

"Saki! Move!" Rini shouted, but it was too late. The rest of the shards had dug into the street at Saki's feet. The street turned red and Saki's feet began to sink into it as the asphalt melted. It then exploded in a tower of flame and debris. "SAKI!"

For a moment, she thought her worries were for naught. Saki stumbled from the smoke, scorched but alive. However, Moetatsuka was back on her feet and charged at her. She leapt forward, weaving flames and burning debris around her as she became a blazing spear.

A spear that struck Saki head-on with a resounding explosion. Rini felt as if her skin would burn off even from what she'd thought was a safe distance.

Saki flew back, smashing through the front window of the store. She did not come back out.

"NO!" Rini wanted to rush to Saki's side, but Moetatsuka turned on her next. With a wave of her hand, hot, explosive shards flew at her. Her only thought in that moment was that she if she died, her father would never forgive Saki...

She shut her eyes and heard, felt, the explosions... but she realized she wasn't dead. If she had been, she wouldn't have been able to realize much of anything, she figured.

"Are you OK?"

She opened her eyes again to see Sairiko, huge blade stuck into the ground like a shield – a wall that had protected them from the blast.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Rini asked, though she couldn't have uttered a complaint if she'd wanted to – and she certainly didn't want to.

"I overheard that you were going after another, uh, rogue sekirei," Sairiko said. "I wanted to make sure you were OK!" She ripped her massive blade from the ground. "Now stay back, Moetatsuka is really dangerous!"

"Y-yeah... I noticed..." She could only nod, still quite shaken by her near-death experience.

Sairiko flew forward, barreling toward her opponent, her blade held flat in front of her to block the explosive projectiles Moetatsuka threw at her. She charged through smoke and fire until her blade was finally in range.

She swung, but Moetatsuka immediately ceased her attacks and jumped clear. The already shattered street at Sairiko's feet was now littered with glowing, hot shards. Cracks spread from those shards, like burning roots.

Sairiko stabbed her blade into the ground and leapt up onto the hilt. A moment later the ground beneath her exploded, as it had for Saki. When the smoke and fire cleared, both the blade and Sairiko were gone.

But then suddenly she was back, descending from above, fist coming across Moetatsuka's jaw. Even as she staggered back, though, she drew more burning debris from the ground to fling at Sairiko. However, Sairiko's sword came spiraling down from the sky for her to catch, and with a single swing of the massive blade, the shards were blown away.

Sairiko then darted forward, slamming the hilt of her weapon into Moetatsuka's gut, not just doubling her over but sending her sliding back. However, doing so might have been a mistake. The air around Moetatsuka distorted, her entire figure shimmering behind a wave of heat. The ground beneath her own feet exploded and the dominoes began to tumble from there.

The explosion sowed the seeds for others, and so on. Sairiko was hopping left and right, frantically trying to stay on safe ground. It didn't matter. Moetatsuka stormed forward and there was more than enough ammo strewn about from the chaos she'd created.

She weaved flame around her fist and as Sairiko jumped away from one explosion, Moetatsuka shot through the smoke and slammed her fist into the girl's ribs. She was rocketed nearly all the way back to Rini's feet.

She made it back to a knee before the next barrage of blasts hit her. She cowered behind her sword, but had no time to anchor it into the ground. As the assault continued, Sairiko's grip weakened and finally the blade was smashed aside and the next searing blast sent her sprawling.

Rini had no idea how she could survive something like that, but she did. She knew sekirei were tough, but what she was witnessing was testing what she could believe. Was she even still conscious? Had she been knocked out and Sairiko had never really come to save her?

Maybe it was all a dream.

If it was, it was the most realistic dream she'd ever had. Every emotion, every vibration that shook the ground, and every wave of heat that washed over her – she was painfully aware of it all. No, it was real. It was a lot to take in, but no one had time to let her process it.

Throwing caution to the wind, she rushed to Sairiko's side, where the sekirei had fallen. "Wh-what do we do?"

"R-Rini?" Sairiko cracked an eye open. "I'm... sorry. I'm not strong enough," she whimpered. "Y-you should run-"

"No! I won't leave you here like this!"

"But you'll get hurt. You have to-"

She pressed a finger to Sairiko's lips shushed her. Sairiko was wrong. There was _one_ thing Rini could do. She just hoped she wouldn't regret it later. " _I'm_ sorry."

She pulled her finger away and pulled the sekirei close. She pressed her lips against Sairiko's.

It was all she could think of. One kiss. Giving Sairiko her wings. If she could bring out her potential... but would it be enough?

Her wings spread – a strong, deep, luminescent blue. As she pulled away, she was filled with awe. Had she really done that? Was something so amazing really her doing? And in Sairiko's eyes she could see shock and disbelief, but also adoration – love.

But when she looked up, she saw something else. Moetatsuka was looking at them, and her eyes only held fear... which quickly turned to anger. Soon, dozens of explosive shards were swarming around her – and then they were launched.

"Sairiko!" Rini called out a warning, and the girl flew into action immediately. Rini was clutched tightly to the girls chest and then she rolled. Holding Rini with one arm, Sairiko reached out and grabbed her sword with the other. She rolled onto her back just in time to face the oncoming projectiles.

With new-found strength, Rini made a mighty swing and a blast of air threw the projectiles away. She then stood, lifting Rini to her feet as well as she did.

"Don't worry. I think I can really do it this time!" Sairiko said.

Rini giggled. She didn't know how she found it in her to laugh, but her head was swimming. "You'll have to let go of me first."

"Ah!" Sairiko quickly let go, but Rini grabbed the collar of her vest.

"But let me hold on to this for you. You look good in this, no need to let it get burned up."

Sairiko blushed, but stripped off her vest and handed it to Rini. As Rini took it though, Sairiko caught her and pulled her in, once more causing their lips to meet and thus Sairiko's wings to spread.

"Wh-what?" Rini asked dazedly as they parted.

"Now I know I can do this." Sairiko smiled and then turned to face an even more apprehensive Moetatsuka. "My blade holds strong my pledge! Overwhelm the opposition before my ashikabi!"

She was chanting. Rini gasped in realization. A norito? She'd heard lots of stories, but never seen one.

"Blade Fusion! Dreadnought!" Sairiko's sword began to glow until it appeared to be made of pure light. Her body followed suit. Armor began to appear upon her, first plates upon her legs and then her chest. Finally her right arm was fully encased in metal, her blade seeming to have become one with it. There was a massive pauldron on her shoulder and a plate that covered part of her face and right eye, only a bright blue light shining from a gap in the armor where her eye was.

Where before her blade had been little more than a massive, sharp slab of metal on a stick, her armor was unrecognizable and far more refined in its design. The blade now extended from her elbow and must have been three feet long. The spine of the blade also had blue lights upon it.

In response, Moetatsuka had gathered much of the fire and burning debris to her, amassing a large fireball between her hands. She threw it forward and it exploded, but rather than expend its energy and dissipate, the explosion raged forward, seeming to grow and consume everything in its path.

Sairiko faced the oncoming storm of fiery death head-on. She lifted her right arm and swung at the inferno. The force behind her norito fueled swing was such that it not just cleaved the flames in half but blew them back. The inferno collapsed in on itself and died down harmlessly.

She then charged forward. Unsurprisingly, Moetatsuka fired back with all the explosive projectiles she could muster, but Sairiko's blade and thick armor covering her arm and shoulder deflected it all with ease. She forced her way through the barrage, only having gained momentum as she did.

She barreled into Moetatsuka at full speed, armored shoulder striking like a battering ram. She then lashed out with her blade, flinging Moetatsuka away. The fiery sekirei went flying into the police barricade, crashing into a car.

The vehicle's tires squealed as it went sliding back from the force, the impact having nearly folded the whole thing in half. The way Moetatsuka slumped over as she as the car finally came to a halt and it was clear she was in no position to keep fighting.

The norito had done it.

But she couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something...

"SAKI!"

 **. . .**

Saki had been fine, relatively speaking. They had all, Moetatsuka included, been carted back to MBI. Saki had been quickly hauled away for medical treatment while Rini and Sairiko escorted a bruised and very reluctant Moetatsuka through the building.

She didn't fight back, just marching forward with head hung low, glaring daggers at anyone who managed to meet her eyes. They soon met up with Rini's father who was leading them to where they would be keeping the rogue sekirei until they could figure out how best to deal with her.

That... had been the plan, anyway.

"Stoooop!" And so they all did, glancing at each other in confusion. "Stop being so mean to her!"

"Wh-… Why are you here?" Madoka spun around. He looked angry, but more so he just looked baffled. It was Rini's sister.

"Back off!" Nariko shoved Sairiko away from Moetatsuka and then stared down the rogue sekirei. Sairiko looked to Rini for direction, but she could only shrug in response. "Explain yourself! You've been a bad girl!" Nariko scolded Moetatsuka.

"Who... is this sassy, lost child?" Moetatsuka looked past her, eyes displaying only exasperation.

"Seriously, what-" Madoka tried to speak again, but Nariko just snapped her head around and shushed him. He was so shocked that he actually went silent.

"Just talk to me, Tatsuka-chan! I know he did stuff to you but you can't just go around blowing things up!" Nariko tried to hug the sekirei, but that seemed to be the line that she shouldn't have crossed. Moetatsuka gripped Nariko's shirt collar and glowered at her.

"Enough! If I wanted to, right now I could incinerate... I... could..." But suddenly she faltered, hands shaking as she lost her grip. Nariko slapped her hand away and spun on her heel, turning her back to the sekirei. Moetatsuka seemed to find this horribly upsetting. "N-no, I'm sorry!"

"Hmph!"

"Should... I...?" Sairiko just seemed lost. Madoka pinched the bridge of his nose and just motioned for her to let it be.

"B-but-" Moetatsuka reached out for Nariko, but the girl stepped out of her reach. This continued for a good thirty seconds, with Moetatsuka chasing Nariko in a slow circle as the teen angrily refused to give the sekirei any attention. "I-I said... please... NARIKO!" Finally she lost patience and lunged for her, spinning her around and meeting her eyes.

"You _do_ remember me!" Nariko was instantly all smiles again and flung herself at the sekirei, hugging her tightly.

"I-I-" Moetatsuka looked unsteady suddenly. "My head..." She dug a hand into her hair. "I don't..."

"You've been tuned improperly, so your memory is suffering. You haven't lost everything, but the gaps are gonna make you feel off for a while," Rini told her.

"Yes, now-" But it seemed Madoka wasn't going to get a word in edgewise anytime soon.

"Now, come with me!" Nariko ordered Moetatsuka as she let go. "You need a good talking to! We're going to go get ice cream and you're going to listen!"

"B-but I hate ice cream..." Moetatsuka's shoulders sagged.

"That's fine! Bad girls don't get desert anyway!"

"Nariko... at the very least she should still have a doctor check her over..." Madoka finally managed to speak up.

"Tatsuka-chan?" Nariko stared the sekirei down.

"Ah... n-no, I'm fine." Moetatsuka nodded.

"See? I'll take care of her! I'm obviously doing a much better job of it than you anyway!" Nariko stated and turned to lead Moetatsuka away. "Come, Tatsuka-chan! And straighten up!"

"Y-yes." Moetatsuka stood up straight and hurried after the girl.

Rini had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing while her father just stared after them, slack-jawed. Finally she just lost it.

"I am having the worst day," Madoka grumbled, looking completely frustrated.

"Aww, come on! That was funny!" Rini tried to calm him down. She couldn't be _too_ angry with Moetatsuka. Her head had been messed with and in the end everyone would be OK. She was sure Nariko really would handle it, in her own way. The sekirei had always loved her – she'd been like a queen basking in their adoration. Rini was a little jealous, honestly.

"I'm not in the mood."

"I-is it because I winged Sairiko? Don't worry, I'll take responsibility!" she assured him. He just stared at her in tired disbelief while Sairiko descended into a startled coughing fit. "OK, that came out wrong, but still..."

"Just come with me." He sighed and began walking. After a minute, she began to grow worried. Her father was far too upset. She knew he had history with Minaka, but shouldn't he be happy that they'd managed to get back another of the missing sekirei? The second thing that made her heart sink was that she realized he was leading her to the medical wing.

He stopped outside of a door. "There were two attacks today. You and Sairiko managed to stop one... the other succeeded. Unfortunately, the one you stopped was just a distraction." He then opened the door and stepped into the room.

Rini took a deep breath and followed. Who had gotten hurt? And then she saw the pink hair. "M-mom!" She was at the bedside within a second. "Wh-wh-"

"Oh be quiet!" Benitsubasa snapped and pinched Rini's lips together. "I'm fine... mostly." She was covered in bandages, including one over her left eye. "We now know exactly what Minaka has done, though."

"What's that?" Rini asked, voice trembling.

"When we say he 'undid' our work, we were spot on. He's reset them to factory specs, so to speak. They're at full power. Even _I_ can't stop them..." She then grinned. "But I heard that you did."

"Oh, um... y-yeah. Me and Sairiko-"

"Sukaime's gonna have a field day with this."

"Oh god." Her eye twitched. She really would.

"Rini." Benitsubasa sobered. "If this is how it's going to be, I'm pretty much out of the game. But you see, he's afraid of sekirei. He won't wing them because being linked to them terrifies him, we've seen it before. That gives you and Sairiko the advantage. I don't want to ask this, and your father _really_ doesn't want to ask this, but we don't have anyone else to go to, so-"

"Mom." She placed her hand on her mother's. "I've already faced decapitation and being exploded, and I still brought the first two back. Why would I stop now?" she said with a wink.

"That's my girl!"

"I think I'm going to be sick." Madoka groaned and found a chair to sit in. "E-exploded?"

"Moetatsuka makes Kagari look like a wet match." Rini pursed her lips.

"There has to be a better way..."

"You know there isn't," Benitsubasa told him. "The whole thing we're working toward is giving sekirei a peaceful life! And all the existing fighters are winged, so they can't be tuned up to the strength of Minaka's sekirei. Sairiko is literally our only hope right now."

"I won't let you down!" Sairiko chimed in. "And I won't let anyone hurt Rini-sama."

"Wh-what?" Rini blushed and stared at Sairiko is shock.

"Get used to it, kid. You're her 'precious ashikabi' now." Benitsubasa winked at her. "Just like your father is mine." She held her hand out and Madoka grasped it affectionately.

"R-right..." The fondness her parents had for each other always gave her a sense of security... but it was also a bit embarrassing to watch.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to go talk to Kin about fixing her store. Keep an eye on your mother for me." Madoka leaned down to kiss Benitsubasa on the cheek before heading out of the room.

"Well, someone has to. I'm short one," Benitsubasa scoffed, causing Rini to stare at her in horror. "Don't worry, it'll grow back."

 **. . .**

In the end, her mother told her that Minaka had stolen a large shipment of materials all based off of sekirei technology. They had no idea what he was going to use it for, but it didn't matter; it was bad if it stayed in his hands.

But it would have to wait. The sun was setting and Rini was exhausted. She just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet that the solitude of her home allowed. It was something she was quickly realizing may no longer have been possible.

She was standing in her entryway, just having shut the door behind her, trying to think of what she was going to do with Sairiko. She _really_ hadn't thought things through. "Oh crap, I have nowhere for you to sleep!" Rather than look disappointed, Sairiko blushed, though Rini didn't notice as she tried to think of a solution. "I guess I could put some blankets on the floor. Or you could take the couch. My mom used to sleep on the couch a lot before... well anyway... are you OK?" Sairiko was pouting and slumped over.

"Yes. I'll just... take the couch..." She sniffled. And suddenly Rini was all too aware of what she'd gotten herself into.

"Or I can take the couch and you can have the bed. I-I mean after today you totally deserve it-" But it didn't make the sekirei look any happier. "Yeah... take the bed and I'll get you your own tomorrow. Um... I-I'll go make dinner. Why don't you wash up?" With that she quickly scurried away into the kitchen.

Once alone, she gripped the edge of the counter and began hyperventilating. She couldn't deal with this. She slowly slid to the floor, back against the cabinets.

When Sairiko finally came to the kitchen, that was where she found her, head still pressed against her knees.

"R-Rini-sama?! Are you OK?"

"Huh?" She looked up dazedly, having been half-asleep. "Oh... I guess I forgot about the food. Sorry..."

"Your eyes are red." Rini flinched and turned away. "What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have winged you. I wish I could undo it." It was about the worst way she could have phrased it, but it was true. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sairiko take a startled step backward. "Wanna know a secret? You were my first kiss. I'm twenty-three and I've been in nine relationships... but still..."

"I don't... understand..."

"I hate relationships! I give up on them!" She shook her head frantically. "I can't feel anything for them so I don't let them get close and then they give up on me and nobody is happy!" Her fist flew back into the cabinet behind her with a hollow thud. "And now I can't get rid of you and I don't want to watch you suffer!"

To her surprise, Sairiko knelt down in front of her and put her hands on her shoulders. "I would never abandon you!" she stated, eyes full of determination. "I am your sekirei, forever and ever!"

Rini just looked at the girl, suddenly at a loss. She had no response. None of her mothers' stories had prepared her for this, to experience the devotion of a sekirei first hand.

She lifted her hands to her eyes, rubbing the tears away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me... It's been a long day." She patted Sairiko on the head and stood up. "So, what do you want to eat?"

"Uh... err... a-anything is fine." The sekirei seemed to be suffering whiplash at Rini's sudden recovery. "Recovery" was stretching it, of course. She'd gotten control over her emotions but nothing had changed. "Rini-sama, I-I-"

"Hm?"

"I'm glad you're OK."

It seemed neither could be fully honest. She knew it, and she knew it was her fault.

* * *

 **Knowing your ashikabi's tears are for you, it fills you with determination.**

 **Undertale references aside... did anyone catch the One Punch Man reference? 10 internets to anyone who did.**

 **So here's part one of the sequel that was never supposed to be. And also... a little cut content from the original Violent Hearts. This will seriously make NO sense unless you've read the original. Though, if you've already read this far without reading the original... why? I mean thank you, but _why!?_**

 **Bonus:**

 **. . . 10 Days After Kamikura Island . . .**

Kaie had giver her a jump-start, Musubi had given her a nasty heads-up, and now... she was going out of her mind just waiting. Soon they'd be off to the giant island in the sky. She was glad to be at least _walking_ again, but part of her wished she'd skipped the sparring match with Musubi. Though, perhaps it was best to know how weak she was ahead of time, lest she do something stupid.

Hopefully there wouldn't be anything stupid _to_ do.

At the moment, she had slipped away to wander the halls. She told herself it had nothing to do with any sort of paranoia. No, it was silly to think that if she stopped moving for too long that her legs would shut down again.

But why take chances?

She was barely two minutes into said walk when she ran into some... unexpected faces. Faces that not long ago she would have been punching on sight. Faces that if she punched now would probably only result in breaking her hand... so it was probably for the best that she didn't.

She froze upon seeing them and they did the same.

It was Heiwamori and Haihane. Heiwamori almost looked ready to turn around and go the other way, but Haihane seemed to ruin that plan.

"Oh look, it's the killer bubblegum," she chuckled. "So, has my time finally come?"

"Nah, you failed miserably at killing my friends, so you're good." Benitsubasa shrugged. She saw Heiwamori wince at that. "So... I guess Kuu saved you guys as well?"

"Eh, the stick twirler went all merciful goody-two-shoes on me and let me live," Haihane said.

"Are... you complaining?" Benitsubasa raised a curious eyebrow.

Haihane actually seemed to pause for a second. "Let's just say you guys have a very different point of view. It doesn't matter what I think, you're just different. I'd say what she did was stupid, but... it worked. I'm still alive and you still win. So... no, I'm not complaining. Just know that if things were different, I'd have killed you all."

"And now?"

"It's over and I can't beat any of you in a fight so I guess I'm just done. I mean, I'd have been done even if I'd won because there'd be no one left to kill so it's whatever."

"That's... one way to look at it." She supposed as long as Haihane wasn't planning to try fighting again, she'd just take the win. "And what about you?" She looked at Heiwamori.

"I... don't know. It's strange. I remember Karasuba killing me... and then the next thing I know I was waking up and the fight was over. And I was alone." He looked far away as he recalled what had happened to him.

"Alone?" Benitsubasa blinked in confusion

"My wings are gone. I no longer have an ashikabi."

"Wh-"

"I suppose when a sekirei is terminated, their connection to their ashikabi is severed. It's the only explanation," he told her.

"Couldn't he wing you again?" she suggested.

"I don't know if I want that." He sighed. "I have... no happy memories of being his sekirei. I was introduced to him and then forced to follow his lead. Because of Karasuba I had no real say. If ever he wanted to insist, she could force his will upon me."

"What is that? Some kind of excuse for what you did?" Benitsubasa narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell him what he was saying was false, but it didn't make her want to forgive him either.

"Of course not. All I'm saying is that I knew my place... but I never tried to argue. I felt that this fighting was our lot in life." He looked away from. "Or perhaps I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"Look." Benitsubasa sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll never forgive you. Maybe I'll never even stop hating you... but even so, I know how unlucky you are. I believed the same thing you did. I even enjoyed it more than anyone should have. I liked the idea of putting people beneath me and proving I was better. I win, they're terminated, I'm better. The difference is that you never had a way to change. Madoka showed me a better way, but even if you'd _tried_ to change... you just would have suffered. Your ashikabi was content to go along with that fighting."

"I-I- No! I should have just died, Oriha deserved-"

"Yeah? Well I agree, but it's too late for that, so now you have to live!" Benitsubasa grabbed his shoulders. "Fuck, out of your entire batch, you're the one who should have died, but instead you're the only one left. That means you're the only one left to keep their memory alive, so you better get fucking remembering!"

"It's... not like I was planning to just die off..." He mumbled weakly, refusing to meet her eyes.

It was strange. She should have hated him, _despised_ him, and thinking about what happened to Oriha made her so angry it hurt. But all of that was buried under the pain of losing a friend. She'd been ready to change, to embrace the fact that she didn't have to be so alone. Of course Oriha and Masukagami had just had to go off and die immediately afterward.

And now, in front of her, she saw a piece of them in Heiwamori. She could see her pain reflected in his eyes. She couldn't bring herself to hate him in his entirety.

Rather than become consumed by that hate and be burned down to ashes... she pulled him close and hugged him. "Good. Because someday I'm going to want to hear about what Oriha was like before I met her, OK?"

"O-OK..." Heiwamori choked out, stuttering with shock. If it was awkward for him, it was just as awkward for her and she quickly let go.

"S-so, what about you?" she quickly turned her attention back on Haihane.

"Um, no thanks. I'm good. Don't need a hug." Haihane smirked.

"N-not that! You're still winged, aren't you? So-"

"So what?" Haihane shrugged. "I like him just fine. I think he has a great personality."

"You're messed up," Benitsubasa blurted out without thinking.

"And?" Haihane hardly seemed offended, nor did she deny it.

"Fair enough."

* * *

 **And that's it. Just a quick little scene that at the time I was writing Violent Hearts would have mostly just bogged down the pace of the story. However, I now felt it was worth sharing to show a little more of just how much Benitsubasa had changed by the end of the fic, and it also had a few tidbits that might be relevant to this sequel (Assuming I remember...).**

 **Anyway, I'm thinking this will be a "trilogy." I think trying to make it just two chapters would be kinda messy.**

 **Til' next time!**


	2. Naivety

**Another chapter already? Well, tis the season as I am uploading these. I kinda wanted to post this sequel on the anniversary of the original.**

* * *

 **Naivety  
**

Moetatsuka fidgeted in her seat. People kept stopping to stare at her, often looking worried and/or confused. She was sitting there patiently, battered and bruised, across from a small, teen girl who was happily licking away a swirl of ice-cream

"Nariko?" she finally spoke. Nariko just kept licking. "N-Nariko?"

"Hm?" Finally the girl looked at her.

"You said you were going to talk to me," Moetatsuka reminded her.

"Oh... yeah, I guess." Nariko shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "I don't really wanna. That'd be a pain."

Moetatsuka's jaw dropped. How irresponsible was this girl? How irresponsible was her father for letting Nariko drag her out in the first place? "But you said-"

" _But you said!_ Pfft!" Nariko mocked her. "Look! You tried to blow up my sister and then threatened to blow up _me_! You don't get to complain!"

Moetatsuka shrunk back, stunned by the sudden scorn in Nariko's voice.

"So!" Nariko smirked. It was as if she'd never held a glare on her face, not seeming mad at all. "Why don't you like ice-cream?"

"I-I-... what?"

"You heard me. Speak. You have to listen to everything I say or I'm sending you back!" She then leaned across the table between them and held her ice-cream out to the sekirei. "Hm? Have you ever _had_ ice-cream? Just 'cause you shoot fire doesn't mean cold things are bad."

Moetatsuka shrunk back as if scared. "N-not so close!"

"Eh?"

"I-I don't want it to attack me!"

Nariko sat back in her chair, blinking once then twice in thought. She then burst out laughing. "Oh my _god_! I remember! I remember why you hate ice-cream!" Nariko cackled, feet kicking as she doubled over.

"You... remember?" Moetatsuka tried to compose herself. However, there was no recovering from the fact that she'd cowered before a dairy product.

"Mhm." Nariko nodded and then licked her ice-cream before it could drip on her hand. "We took a bunch of you out to eat a long time ago. Back then you were my favorite little servant!" Nariko grinned widely. "I ordered an ice-cream cone, so of course you wanted one too! But you ended up dropping it on yourself before you could even taste it and you hated it ever since!" It would appear Moetatsuka remembered her distaste for it, even if she couldn't remember the event itself.

"Oh..." Moetatsuka bit her lip. If that was all it was... well... now she just felt silly.

Though, perhaps silly wasn't a strong enough word.

"Wait here." Nariko got up from the table. A few minutes later she returned with a small bowl. The bowl was filled with vanilla and chocolate ice-cream covered in hot chocolate syrup. "Try this. No risk of a disaster as long as you're not a klutz. No cone to eat, but you can't win them all." Nariko pressed a plastic spoon into Moetatsuka's hand.

"I thought you said I didn't get-"

"I can do what I want! I'm the boss!" Nariko stated firmly and pushed the bowl closer. "Eat."

"Y-yes, Nariko..." She hesitated, but took a deep breath and managed a small bite. Her back arched and her eyes went wide. She then began to eat it with reckless abandon... until... "AH! It's attacking me from inside!"

"Your head?" Nariko asked, leaning against the table as she began to bite into her cone. Moetatsuka nodded, eyes clenched shut. "Dummy, you ate it too fast! You got an ice-cream headache! Just eat is slowly and you'll be fine! Ugh, how can you be older than me?"

Finally Moetatsuka managed to finish her treat and no longer seemed to be afraid of a desert dish. "Um, c-can I have more?"

"So you like it after all?" Nariko smiled and Moetatsuka nodded in response. "Too bad! You're still a bad girl!"

Moetatsuka slumped over in her seat, hiding her face. "Do you... hate me now?"

"Of course. I buy ice-cream for all my most hated enemies," Nariko said deadpan. She reached out and grabbed Moetatsuka's cheeks, forcing their eyes to meet. "I'm not mad because you left. You were kidnapped. I'm not mad because you forgot. He messed with you. I'm just... mad... Why was it so easy for you to be turned against us? Huh?!" A tear rolled down her cheek. "You were _mine_! Then... the first thing you say to me when I see you again..."

Moetatsuka's hands came up to gasp Nariko's. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

"It can't happen again! You can't let it happen again!"

Moetatsuka shot to her feet, pulling Nariko to her chest. "I won't! I promise..." Nariko hugged back, grabbing fistfuls of her shirt. As they began to part, Moetatsuka gently caressed Nariko's cheek. "Nariko... I-"

But a voice interrupted them. "Hey there." Nariko jumped as if electrocuted.

"M-m-mom?!" Nariko jerked away from Moetatsuka. Indeed, it was Kaie who had found them.

"Well, I guess you two are getting along, so that's... good." Kaie's eye was twitching.

"Wh-wh-what... wh-what are... what...?" Nariko stuttered and gulped in fear.

"Your father called me and told me what you did. He wanted me to make sure you were OK." She then looked at Moetatsuka and scowled. "Though I guess you weren't in any danger..."

"I-I would never hurt N-" Moetatsuka tried to protest.

"So you'll just incinerate everyone but her?" Kaie shook her head. "Look, I know you had your head messed with, but that's precisely why I can't trust you just yet. Nariko, you should take her back to the tower now."

Nariko's lip quivered. She didn't want to leave Moetatsuka yet! "B-b-but-"

" _Now_ , Nariko!"

"Y-yes... mother..."

 **. . .**

Rini woke up early. Exhaustion had gotten her to sleep surprisingly quickly, but her couch wasn't quite big enough to sleep on comfortably, so her rest had been cut short. Eyes and head aching, she got to her feet and wobbled her way to the kitchen to find some water.

Once liquid sustenance had been acquired, she just began walking about. She found Sairiko's sword leaning against a wall in the main hallway. She stopped to look it over, noticing that it looked different. It had been a crude, if viciously effective, weapon when she'd first seen it. A sharpened slab of metal on a stick, less elegant than even most meat cleavers.

However, now it seemed to have retained the high-tech appearance it had taken during Sairiko's norito. The glowing lights had gone dim, but it was certainly different now. It was as if the norito had reforged the blade into was it was supposed to have been all along.

She ran her fingers across the metal. It was cold. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. She had to wonder, though, just how strong Sairiko was to be able to lift such a weapon? It was nearly as big as Rini was. Although, lifting the sword was hardly Sairiko's greatest feat of strength.

The sound of her bedroom door caught Rini's attention. She saw Sairiko groggily stumbling through the hall, though she stopped halfway. The girl froze, staring at Rini.

"Hey, Sairiko. Morning," Rini greeted, trying to act casual. She was fully aware there were issues to be worked out... eventually.

"U-um... g-good morning." Sairiko appeared to be blushing.

"Is everything OK?" Rini raised an eyebrow. Sairiko didn't answer, but her gaze flitted down, but then away, face turning redder. "Huh?" Rini looked down and then sighed. That was the problem. Rini wasn't wearing pants. She'd taken them off for bed. All she had on were a pair of tight, black underwear "Oh. Sorry."

Of course Sairiko was going to be sensitive about that kind of thing, unlike her. Rini figured she should fix the problem and headed toward her room. As she passed Sairiko, the sekirei quickly flattened herself against the wall, face scarlet, and eyes averted.

They definitely had problems.

 **. . .**

She stopped by her dad's house momentarily before heading to work. It almost felt mean, but she had chosen to leave Sairiko there. Sure, she'd be subject to Sukaime's harassment, but at least she wouldn't be sulking around the MBI building.

And to be quite honest, Rini wanted some space from her sekirei. It was the first time she'd ever felt like such a failure. Her dad had five sekirei and had overcome the S-Plan having known them less than a year. Meanwhile she had one sekirei that she'd known for years and she couldn't handle it. She was a terrible ashikabi...

She really shouldn't have winged her. What was she supposed to do now?

 _BANG!_

She let out a shriek and her car began shuddering. She quickly pulled over, and after taking a moment for her mind to process, she realized she must have a flat tire.

"Ugh, run-flat tires my ass..." she grumbled and stepped out of the car. Indeed, her front, passenger side tire was flat. She also noticed that it had a finger sized hole that went straight through the treads. "What... the hell?" Running over a nail wouldn't have done something like that.

"Trouble?" a voice suddenly came from behind her. It was male.

"Uhh, n-no, I can handle it!" Rini assured them as she straightened up to take a look. Their clothing was casual: jeans and a t-shirt. However, she recognized him. The straight, longish white hair and silver eyes. "H-H-Hyoushi?" She gulped. He was one of the missing sekirei and one of the few male ones. Her parents hadn't said, but she'd assumed he might have been the one to hurt her mother.

"Well, at least you keep track of us." He glowered at her. Rini was sure his mind was filled with the same propaganda that Minaka had fed Sairiko.

"What... do you want?"

"He's not happy that you keep interfering. You're to come with me," Hyoushi told her. "If you resist too much, he's fine with me killing you."

"You're a sekirei, how would me resisting cause you any trouble?" Rini began backing away. She knew running was pointless... but... She ran anyway. She didn't hear him chasing her. Was he just taking aim to kill her after all?

Something struck her foot. She couldn't lift it and fell, nearly dashing her face against the sidewalk. She looked down and saw a single ball bearing rolling across the concrete by her foot. It was the width of her thumb, but had come down on her foot with enough force to pin it to the ground.

She looked up to see Hyoushi advancing toward her. She also heard a car coming. Would he be bold enough to abduct her in front of witnesses. Would _that_ prompt him to simply kill her and run? No, he kept advancing. He meant to take her.

The next thing she knew her body was... glowing. Then she felt like she was flying, no, she _was_ flying. She soon found herself hovering in mid-air next to a fancy sports car.

"Get in," a female voice told her. Before she could respond the mysterious force simply flung her into the back seat. Rini blinked and the quickly sat up, looking at her saviors. One was a petite blonde woman in an extravagant, yellow dress, and the other was-

"Higa?!" Rini stared at the man behind the wheel. She only somewhat knew him as the owner of a big pharmaceutical company and one of her father's former opponents in the S-Plan. There was still some tension between the two men but for the most part they were on OK terms. Last she knew, the two companies had even begun working together, though she didn't pay much attention to that kind of stuff.

"Looks like you got yourself into some trouble," Higa responded without looking at her.

"Y-yeah... Hey, we need to-"

 _BANG! BANG! POP! BANG!_

All four of the car's tires were flattened before she could even discuss retreating.

"My... car..." Higa let out an annoyed sigh. "Kyoukko?"

"Yeah, yeah. So I guess that guy is a sekirei?" The blonde, Kyoukko, opened the passenger door to step out.

"He's a sekirei that was kidnapped by Minaka! He's re-tuned them to be at full strength. As in one-hundred percent!" Rini called out a warning.

That got Higa's attention. He turned his head to look at her, eyes wide. "What?"

"He's... dangerous..." was all Rini had to say. What else _could_ she say?

"And so what?" Kyoukko chuckled. "I'm a sekirei with her ashikabi present. I won't lose to some wild child like this."

"It's as she says. You stay here, we'll handle this." Higa also stepped out of the car.

"So, I'm number 98, Kyoukko. Who are you?" Kyoukko asked her opponent. The only response was a silver blur shooting at her forehead. A wall of golden light shot up in front of Kyoukko. The ball-bearing that had been on course to penetrate her skull struck it and slowed to a halt, millimeters from Kyoukko's face. "How rude..."

Hyoushi sent a full barrage of the small, metal spheres at Kyoukko, but she didn't budge. They all struck her wall and were halted like the first. Kyoukko just smirked and inspected her fingernails.

Hyoushi growled and summoned a storm of bullets, flying out to strike at Kyoukko from every angle. Kyoukko expanded her wall, reshaping it to surround her entirely. She weathered the barrage with ease, none of the spheres able to breach her defenses.

"Do you get it yet?" Kyoukko laughed. "A telekinetic type like you is useless against me! What, are you new? You're so bad at this!" She looked over her shoulder. "Higa, darling. Shall we finish this?"

"Of course." Higa walked over to his sekirei, leaning over to kiss her. Golden wings spread from Kyoukko's back.

"My golden spirit embodies my pledge, wash out the unsightly that stand beneath my ashikabi! Zubuno Shihai!" Kyoukko's golden energy flared up and took shape. She saw a number of weapons form, including Hyoushi's spheres and something else familiar. "Hmmm... this one!" All of the energy copies faded, leaving only one. It was the familiar one: Sukaime's doubled-ended javelin. The excess energy converged upon it and it grew to a truly massive size.

Kyoukko grinned madly. "You should run, child!"

Rini could see the fear in Hyoushi's eyes. He took one step back and then broke, all courage leaving him. He did as he was told and ran. To Rini's utter surprise, Kyoukko had done it... sort of.

Kyoukko let her norito fade and her golden energy all disappeared. Then, strangely, Kyoukko slowly doubled over, placing her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths.

"Are... you OK?" Higa asked. "You look shaken."

"He was... way too powerful." Kyoukko panted. "If he'd fought back while my defenses were down... I'd have died. Just... just a little more and I would have been broken."

Suddenly Rini understood. Kyoukko had been bluffing. She'd taken the small advantage she'd had and made it look a hundred times bigger.

"Well, still, you pulled it off." Rini climbed out of the car herself. "Thank you for helping me." She was pretty shaken herself though. It could only be called pure luck that someone had been around to help her. She knew her parents would be furious when they found out. After all, it had been Rini's decision to travel alone. There was no reason she couldn't have had Sairiko with her...

"Yes, well, I'd offer you a ride from here, but," Higa stared at his car and his eyes narrowed. "I don't have that many spare tires..."

 **. . .**

It was early in August, so Summer break was in full swing. It meant Nariko was pretty much free to run around. Whether or not she should be, given the current state of things, was debatable, but she couldn't imagine there was any reason she'd be targeted. She wasn't really part of MBI. She didn't know anything. Unlike Rini, she hadn't ended up winging a sekirei either.

A sekirei which was currently sitting at their house. If Nariko hadn't been in such a bad mood herself, she'd probably have yelled at Rini for that one.

Instead, she was going to her friends' house. Her friends just so happened to be a pair of sekirei around her age. A family who'd failed to have kids of their own had been cleared by MBI to adopt the two. Unlike a normal adoption, the family was being paid rather than the other way around.

Nariko had always gotten along with all the sekirei, but the twins were among her favorite, along with Moetatsuka. Seeing as how her mother apparently didn't approve of Moetatsuka anymore, this was the next best thing. She needed _something_ to cheer herself up.

When she arrived, she knocked and was let in by the mother.

"Oh, hello Nariko. Here to see to girls I take it? Maybe you can get them to do their summer homework while you're here!"

"They're being stubborn again? Yeah, I'll see what I can do." Nariko forced a smile as she took her shoes off before heading upstairs. Without ceremony she swung the door to their bedroom open. "I'm here!" she accounted, knowing exactly what to expect.

"Nariko!" the two girls in the room jumped up and shot to her side, each clinging to her. Their overly affectionate behavior was something Nariko had never bothered to dissuade... and in fact she'd probably encouraged it a little too much.

"Tetsuko... Koumi... Down!" she commanded and they hesitantly slide off of her. The two looked very similar, each with short black hair and red eyes, much like Benitsubasa's. The main difference between the two was that Tetsuko kept her hair just a little bit longer and tied up into pigtails. Currently the two were lounging around in pajama pants and tank-tops.

"Hey! We're not dogs!" Tetsuko whined.

"Then why did you obey like one?" Nariko smirked and patted her on the head, taking the joke as far as she could without shoving a biscuit in the girl's mouth.

"We haven't seen you in days and this is how you treat us?" Koumi scowled.

"Sorry, sorry. But if you two can forgive me, I require pampering. I've had a bad couple of days," Nariko told them. The sisters just exchanged glances and crossed their arms, not having it. "OK fine, cheer me up and I'll do your homework for you."

The girls immediately grinned. Koumi went and sat on her bed. "Your pillow awaits, my princess," she said and presented her lap.

"Much better." Nariko nodded.

 **. . .**

Rini walked up to her father's office door. This wasn't going to be a fun conversation. She knocked and opened the door when beckoned.

"H-hey, dad..." Rini couldn't hide her nerves.

"Rini. You don't usually visit me in the morning. Where's Sairiko?" he asked her.

"I, uh, left her home. L-look, something happened on my way in..." She gulped and her father raised a curious eyebrow.

"Something indeed." Rini cringed as Higa stepped into view. "Madoka-" Before the man could say another word, Madoka raised a finger to silence him.

"Rini. Do I need to kill him?" he asked.

"N-no... he helped me..." Rini hung her head. This was it.

"All right. Higa... to what do I owe the pleasure?" Madoka crossed his arms. "You don't usually visit me in the morning either."

"No, I don't. But today, unlike other days, I was attacked by a wild sekirei. Or rather, your daughter was and I was forced to intervene. I can't imagine things would have ended well had Kyoukko not been with me. According to Kyoukko, they nearly didn't regardless," Higa explained. "So, old friend, what exactly do you have to say about that?"

"Nothing good." Madoka grimaced. He then sat down and buried his face in his palms. "I'm not sure I should be telling you what's going on."

"What? Afraid I'll use it as leverage? Hmph. Well don't worry, your daughter disclosed the short version in the heat of it. Minaka again is it?"

"Yes," Madoka admitted. "And unfortunately we only have one sekirei who can stand up to him right now..." Madoka glanced at Rini and he didn't look happy. As she'd thought, he was upset she didn't have Sairiko with her.

"So, us ashikabi from before are going to be useless?" Higa sighed. "I see. Well, I'll stay out of it then. I'd keep a close eye on your family. Minaka surely likes you least of all. He's had a long time to pile up all his resentment." With that, Higa left.

"Do you... really think he'd go after someone besides me? I mean, I'm the one with a sekirei..." Rini didn't like the idea of Nariko or Katsurou being in the crossfire.

"Hold that thought," Madoka grumbled and picked up his cellphone. A moment later, his call went through. "Sukaime? Hey, where are my children right now?"

" _Well Rini went to work..."_

"Yeah, I have her right here."

" _OK, let me see. My babies are in their cribs. HEY SAKI, WHERE'S THE PAPERWEIGHT? . . . I'M TALKING ABOUT YOUR SON! . . . OK, so he's in his room playing video games like usual."_

"And Nariko?"

" _One sec. HEY KAIE! WHERE'S YOUR HELLSPAWN? . . . Kaie says she snuck out. Is that bad? Should I be panicking? Oh god I'm panicking... Madoka tell me I don't have to panic!"_

". . . Hold that thought. I'll call you back later. Oh, and tell Sairiko to get over here." Madoka hung up and took a deep breath. "Now what am I going to do about you?" He narrowed his eyes at Rini.

 **. . .**

"Are you feeling better yet?" Tetsuko asked.

"No." Nariko replied sleepily.

"How about now?"

"No. And if you keep asking, I never will be," Nariko grumbled.

"But if you wait too long you won't have time to do our homework!"

"Nope!" Nariko smirked and cracked an eye open.

Koumi scowled down at her. "Hey, lap pillows aren't free you know! My legs are falling asleep!"

"Oh please, sekirei have excellent circulation. Besides, I told your mom I'd make _you_ do it." Nariko nestled herself further into Koumi's lap. "Besides, you have weeks. What's the rush?"

"Will you at least help?" Tetsuko pleaded.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I'm trying to nap!"

 _CRASH!_

So much for napping. All three of them went rigid and Nariko sat straight up. It had sounded like a door being smashed open.

"Hey? Who the hell are-" Nariko heard the twins' adoptive father, but he was silenced by another crash. This was followed by their mother screaming, but soon she too went silent.

"Wh-wh-wh-" Nariko was frozen in terror. Was it a robber? Some sort of psychopath? . . . One of Minaka's sekirei?

"St-stay here! We'll check it out!" Koumi told her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"What? No! It's dangerous!"

"We're sekirei... w-we'll be fine!" Tetsuko told her, but it was clear the two were still scared.

"Yeah. We're still stronger than regular people, it'll be fine. I promise!" Koumi nodded.

"And you totally have to do our homework after this!" Tetsuko insisted. With that, the two, still rather hesitantly, began making their way down the stairs. Nariko could only sit in shock, barely able to breathe as she watched their backs disappear.

For a moment it was quiet – only her own heart hammering away.

 _CRASH! BANG!_ The sounds of a brawl downstairs made her jump and left her trembling – heavy objects being tossed about and furniture splintering. Within seconds it was over again.

"K-Koumi? Tetsuko?" Nariko whimpered. She sniffled as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek. Almost without realizing it, her shaky body began to move. She was on her feet and the next thing she knew, she was making her way down the stairs. Already she could see debris scattered across the floor below.

No blood yet, so that was something.

When she reached the bottom, she could see that everything was trashed. She saw the father, laying still across the room, blood leaking from his mouth. There was no sign of the twins.

 _Crunch._ The sound of glass underfoot made Nariko gasp. Another footstep and she froze. Who was it? She didn't have to wait long. A tall figure walked into her field of view. It was a woman with dark hair, like smoke and steely eyes. She had a thick slab of metal, like a shield, but pointed like a vicious talon on one end, strapped to her arm. Under each arm she held one of the twins.

Nariko could only take shuddering breaths as the woman stopped and stared at her. However, she then just walked by and left, taking the two, young sekirei with her.

Nariko fell to her knees, tears flowing freely. She'd been helpless, and now her friends were gone. Was it her fault? Why was this happening?

 **. . .**

"We have to do something!"

"I know-"

"What _have_ you been doing?"

"Kaie-"

"This is two daughters now that have nearly been killed!" Kaie was furious to say the least.

"Well, according to her, it seems she wasn't in much danger..." Madoka tried to calm her a little.

"We have two people in the hospital, two more sekirei gone, and my daughter is traumatized!" It seemed there was no calming her. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Honestly? Not much at the moment. Right now I'm mostly on damage control..." Madoka hung his head. Nariko was his daughter too. He wasn't any happier.

"Trust me, I wish there was more we could do." Avaron was present as well.

"There must be some way to track these sekirei!" Kaie demanded.

"There's no way to differentiate the sekirei. We'd be tracking _hundreds_ of them," Madoka told her.

"Well we _know_ where she's been and she has two others with her. _And_ she's been tuned to full power. Are you saying we really can't pick her out of the crowd?"

Madoka and Avaron traded silent stares before Avaron spun around in her chair and began furiously typing.

"I can load the satellite logs and find out where she went!" Avaron said. A minute later Avaron sighed. "Good news and bad news."

"Hit me." Madoka grimaced.

"Bad, the twins have been taken out to sea and I lost track of them. Good, it looks like our kidnapper is still here. I don't think they realize we can track them like this." Avaron then turned to face them. "What's the plan?"

"I think we all know there's only one plan." Madoka shook his head. "Get Rini and Sairiko in here."

"Madoka. We're talking about Sadashi. Even unwinged she's dangerous." Avaron was worried and her face showed it. Her worry quickly spread to an increasingly ill looking Kaie.

She had good reason to be. Although the new sekirei were tuned down to no longer be fighters, they kept records of their innate abilities. Sadashi would have been on Karasuba's level.

"Do we have any other ideas?" Madoka asked. The lack of an answer _was_ his answer. "Like I said." He got up to go find Rini himself. He didn't have to go far, she was just outside the room; no doubt eavesdropping.

Madoka sighed. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh, you know... just... everything?" Rini smiled weakly. "Look, Sairiko and I can handle this. Don't worry. We'll go grab Sadashi and hopefully she'll tell us how to find the twins and Minaka."

"I hope you're right, but lately my optimism has taken a hit. Don't get your hopes up. Moetatsuka and Sairiko had no idea where Minaka is. Sadashi might not either," Madoka told her.

"Only one way to find out." Rini took a deep breath. "So. Where am I going?"

 **. . .**

Sadashi turned out to be hiding in a strange place. She was in a small, forested, garden area by a shrine. More importantly it bordered a river that led out to the ocean. She'd probably handed off the twins nearby.

"I don't see her yet. Are we sure she's here?" Sairiko asked, scanning the area.

"Yes. Nothing suggests she's left," Rini replied and stepped closer to the nearest stand of trees.

"We should be careful. If she doesn't know we're here, maybe we ca-"

"SADASHI!" Rini shouted, "GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" Sairiko's jaw dropped at Rini's brash course of action. She then gritted her teeth as Sadashi stepped into view, coming out of the trees.

"So, finally acting rather than reacting? It's about time. You were disappointing me." Sadashi didn't exactly greet them warmly.

"Excuse me? We disappointed you?" Rini was furious. "You're disappointing me! How could you kidnap other sekirei like this? You put my sister in danger!"

"They'll be better off this way and your sister was unharmed." Sadashi narrowed her eyes, not flinching before Rini's scolding.

"Do you even know who you're working for? What Minaka did in the past?"

"I don't care!" Sadashi scoffed. "The me he's let me become is much better than the me before!"

"What-"

"Enough!" Sadashi snapped and squared her feet. "Do what you came here to do!"

"Rini, stand back. It's my turn now." Sairiko hefted her blade and stepped between Rini and the rogue sekirei.

"Good. Come then." Sadashi smirked. Sairiko bared her teeth and then flew forward, giving her blade a mighty swing, but Sadashi moved right into the attack, lifting her left arm. A teardrop-shaped shield blocked the blade, with the point extending down over her hand. Sadashi then surged forward again and rammed her right fist into Sairiko's gut.

Sairiko staggered back, but Sadashi didn't relent. Sairiko's massive blade was useless as Sadashi kept herself in Sairiko's face. Sadashi used the point of her shield like a talon, jabbing it up at the sword sekirei's throat. She leaned back, but the shield was then bashed across her face. A fist followed, spinning her about before Sadashi kicked her face-first to the ground.

Sairiko pushed herself to her feet quickly enough, but Sadashi was already moving in for the kill. Sairiko came up with a unusual strategy just in time to save herself – she dropped her sword. She turned around just as Sadashi stabbed her shield-point forward. She evaded the attack and grabbed Sadashi's arm, twisted, and threw Sadashi over her shoulder, sending the rogue sekirei tumbling across the ground.

Now having the time and room to do so, Sairiko retrieved her blade, readied a swing, and charged forward. She swung quickly and Sadashi hopped back, so she next stabbed, but Sadashi parried it aside. As Sairiko pulled her blade back, Sadashi had time to dart forward, jabbing her weapon at Sairiko's midsection.

Sairiko pulled aside at the last second, but Sadashi was still able to spear her shoulder into the other sekirei. Sairiko grunted from the impact, but quickly began her counter attack. She brought the hilt of her massive weapon down on Sadashi's back. Once, then twice, and the rogue sekirei's legs began to buckle. She then brought her knee up into Sadashi's stomach with enough force to throw the girl back.

Finally, Sairiko batted Sadashi with the broad side of her blade, once more sending the rogue sekirei crashing away. "Give up!" she shouted. "I've been winged, you can't beat me!"

Sadashi stood up. "I'm strong enough on my own!" she spat. Sairiko didn't give her a second chance. She swung her sword, hard this time. She knew Sadashi would see it coming, but she had an idea. Sadashi raised her shield to block, but she staggering under the force of the blow. Sairiko saw her chance and swung again, hoping that this blow would throw her opponent down.

Sadashi recovered faster than she expected. She ducked the swing and moved in quickly. Sairiko was if she tried to tackle her again, but that wasn't the girl's plan. As she drew close, Sairaiko let go of her sword with her right hand, swinging a backhand at her. Sadashi leaned away and twisted her body, and suddenly Sairiko felt a searing pain.

Sadashi had hooked her left fist, and thus the pointed end of her shield, into Sairiko's side. Sairiko grit her teeth, not wanting to scream, not wanting to show her pain. The next thing she knew, Sadashi's right arm was around her throat and the other sekirei was at her back. Sadashi then lifted her weapon for a killing blow to her neck. Sairiko was trapped, unable to stop her.

She'd failed.

" _Rini... don't watch... please don't watch..."_

 **. . .**

Rini watched in horror as Sairiko was stabbed and left at Sadashi's mercy. This wasn't supposed to happen. No one was supposed to die! Sairiko was supposed to be strong enough!

"SADASHI! STOP!" Rini cried out in desperation. To her surprise, the girl's whole body tensed up. Sadashi hesitated.

It was just enough.

Sadashi moved to stab Sairiko, but Sairiko's hand flew up to intercept it, grabbing the bladed point with her bare hand. It cut into her, but better her hand than her neck. Once more Sairiko dropped her blade, this time so she could drive her elbow back into Sadashi.

With her strength, the blow rocked Sadashi's body. A second elbow and Sadashi's arms slackened. Sairiko took her chance to pull away, reaching for her sword, but Sadashi still had enough strength to kick her, knocking her away from her fallen weapon.

She tried to push herself up, but Sadashi kicked her in the side, where she wounded.

"I told you! I don't need to tie myself to anyone to be strong!" Sadashi then brought her heel down on Sairiko's head, digging her face into the dirt. Sairiko's fingertips dug into the ground, but she couldn't crawl free.

"NO! Sadashi, stop it!" Rini ran to where Sadashi was grinding Sairiko's face into the dirt, but Sadashi's arm shot out and Rini found the tip of the sekirei's weapon at her throat.

"Silence!" Sadashi growled. "I'm not supposed to kill you, but I won't hesitate if you give me a reason to!"

"P-please... don't..." Rini whimpered, her vision blurring as tears began to flow. Sadashi stared into Rini's eyes, and all Rini saw was coldness. And yet, Sadashi began to lift her foot from Sairiko's head. For a moment, Sairiko was able to lift her eyes to meet Rini's

"You came after me. You brought this on yourselves," Sadashi spoke harshly.

"Wh-"

Sadashi stomped her foot back down. Sairiko cried out once and went limp. Rini fell to her knees in despair. Sadashi was right, this was her fault. She'd been arrogant to just assume they'd win. Now she couldn't protect Sairiko. Inches away and she was helpless to save her.

She looked up, as if to silently plead with the sekirei one last time, but she'd already turned her back. And then suddenly something hot and bright slammed into Sadashi's back, blasting her off her feet and away from Rini and Sairiko.

"Huh?" Rini could only blink dumbly, wondering if she'd snapped under pressure and was imagining things.

"I knew you'd screw it up!" A voice spoke that only confused her further. Rini turned her head and did a double take. It was her sister and Moetatsuka. "You're not the only one with a sekirei who'll obey your every command! I'll take care of this!"

"I-I'm not a slave..." Moetatsuka mumbled while blushing.

"Whatever! This bitch needs to be punished! Blow her up, Moetatsuka!" Nariko commanded, pointing at Sadashi. Moetatsuka's expression hardened and she nodded, her body beginning to glow as she charged her explosive powers.

"Wait!" Rini shouted. "You can't just do that! We're near trees, you'll burn the whole place down!"

Nariko and Moetatsuka's eyes widened. They clearly hadn't thought of that. It hadn't rained in a while so everything was bone dry. One misplaced spark and it was game over.

She saw Sadashi smirk and she rushed at Moetatsuka. Moetatsuka was forced on the defensive, doing her best to avoid Sadashi's onslaught of attacks. She had no weapon or armor, she couldn't even block.

Moetatsuka thrust her palms forth when an opening presented itself, unleashing a close ranged blast. It pushed Sadashi back, but at best it only slowed her down. Moetatsuka wasn't defenseless, but she was out of her element in a close-ranged battle.

Rini's heart sank. Even with Moetatsuka, it seemed there wasn't much hope. If she didn't do something they could end up losing Sairiko _and_ Moetatsuka. Why had Nariko tried to play hero? Rini had already screwed up badly enough, and now? Now she didn't know what to do. What _could_ she do?

She heard a faint whimper from Sairiko. She crawled over to her, gently turning her onto her back. The girl winced as her injured body was shifted.

"I'm so sorry," Rini hiccuped. "I-I don't know what to do..." She cradled the girl's head in her lap. "Please be OK. You have to be OK. I-I'll never forgive myself if- if..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it. She pulled Sairiko close, leaning over her and touching her forehead to Sairiko's.

She shut her eyes tightly. All she could do was hope.

Her head was swimming. She began to feel faint... and then nothing.

* * *

 **Oh no. A cliffhanger. I sure hope they're OK.**

 **Unfortunately do to... reasons, the final chapter won't be up for a few days. Should be before 2017 though.**

 **Hope you're enjoying it.**

 **Til' next time!**


	3. Heritage

**Heritage**

She felt warm. Comfortable, even. She was content to lay there for a while. But then she began to remember. Sairiko was in trouble!

Rini's eyes snapped open and she sat up. She wasn't sure what she expected to see, but the familiar walls of the MBI building weren't very high on the list. She was in the infirmary, the same place her mother had been not long ago.

She looked around, to other beds nearby, but they were empty. A wave of panic hit her. Where was Sairiko? Where were Nariko and Moetatsuka?

"Hey! Dad? Mom?" Rini called out. Someone had to be nearby, if not her parents then someone who could fetch them.

It didn't take long before footsteps approached. It was her father. It didn't surprise her that he'd been waiting nearby.

"Rini, good. You're awake," Madoka said. A moment later and Nariko, Moetatsuka, Kaie, Benitsubasa, and Avaron joined them. Her mother still had gauze taped over her left eye, but at least she was back on her feet.

"Where's Sairiko?" Nariko and Moetatsuka looked fine, but her own sekirei was nowhere to be seen.

"She's fine. Well, alive anyway. She was worse off than you, so we put her under more intensive care. She's at an actual hospital," Madoka explained, putting her at ease. "She'll recover."

"Heh, the hospital. We ended up there a few times, eh? Like father like daughter?" Benitsubasa chuckled, but Madoka didn't seem amused.

"Did we win? What happened to Sadashi?" That was the last mystery that Rini needed solved. Actually, there was one more. "Wait, what happened to _me?_ Why don't I remember anything?"

"I think Nariko's gonna have to answer that one for you." Madoka glanced at his younger daughter.

"Right! So, Moetatsuka and I were bravely fending Sadashi off-"

"I was struggling to survive." Moetatsuka said deadpan with a sigh, cutting off Nariko before she could over-embellish what had transpired.

"Ugh." Nariko rolled her eyes. "So anyway..."

 **. . . A Few Hours Ago . . .**

Nariko was beginning to panic. She'd fully expected to have Moetatsuka blow Sadashi away, but apparently that wasn't an option! Well, it was, but it wasn't.

Fuck it.

"Moetatsuka! Ignore Rini, just blow her up! We're more important than the trees!" Nariko shouted. She'd rather live to regret burning the place down than not live at all. Moetatsuka looked back to confirm that Nariko meant it and then nodded. Her body began to glow and heat up, and Nariko saw Sadashi take a step back in apprehension.

A panicked voice distracted all of them. "Rini? RINI?!" Nariko looked over to find that her sister had collapsed and Sairiko was on her hands and knees, worrying over her. "What... WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Sairiko screamed in fury. The enraged sekirei rose to her feet and grabbed her sword. Her right eye was glowing blue and her chest heaved with each breath.

"Nariko, get back!" Moetatsuka forgot about Sadashi and dashed back to her ashikabi, tackling her to the ground. The next thing Nariko knew, she heard Sairiko roar and a massive gust of wind buffeted her. It sounded like the world was falling apart. Debris flew by overhead and she could hear trees and more come crashing down.

When it finally subsided and Moetatsuka let her sit up, every tree that had been before Sairiko had been cleaved in half and Sairiko herself had collapsed once more from the exertion. Lastly, on her knees before them was Sadashi, gritting her teeth and clutching the bloody stump that used to be her shield arm, now cut short at the elbow. She didn't move, only taking deep, gasping breaths.

"I assume you will come quietly now?" Moetatsuka approached her, not seeming sympathetic. Sadashi didn't answer, the pain seemed to have consumed her. "Nariko-sama, I will watch Sadashi. You should call your father and have them come collect us. I can't carry this many people... or rather they're too injured for me to move safely."

"R-right." As Nariko began digging through her pockets, Moetatsuka took another step toward Sadashi, but then paused, hearing something. A newcomer suddenly dropped into view, and numerous projectiles popped into existence before shooting toward her, their target seeming to be her eyes.

She raised a hand, super-heating and melting them before they could hit their mark – but they kept coming. It was inevitable that one would sneak by. She felt one strike the side of her face, grazing by her left eye. The force it struck with didn't seem to match the size of the object. It spun her around, dropping her to a knee. As she clutched at it, she felt blood.

She turned her head back, not wanting to leave her back exposed, but the attack was over. Her assailant was gone, and so was Sadashi.

 **. . . The Infirmary . . .**

"Hyoushi again..." Rini let out a long breath. "He took Sadashi. We failed then."

"Yeah. All we got was an... arm." Nariko pursed her lips.

Rini grimaced. "Exactly how much damage did Sairiko do?"

"Well, aside from injuring Sadashi, apparently about half the trees in the garden and a few buildings were... flattened. Fortunately, the shrine wasn't in the path of destruction."

"I screwed up. I'm sorry." Rini grit her teeth. There had been so much collateral damage in the end. The only thing she had to be glad for was that everyone had survived. She'd wanted to bring Sadashi home but instead they'd just ended up hurting her. Even if they found her again, could they ever get her to forgive them? "If Nariko hadn't come with Moetatsuka..."

"That's a good point." Madoka looked at Nariko. "How _did_ you end up there with Moetatsuka?"

"Well, I went upstairs, grabbed Moetatsuka, and then followed Rini," Nariko explained in short order.

"Yes, but how did you get Moetatsuka?"

"I took the elevator."

"Well, yes, but-"

"No one stopped me." This left Madoka and Nariko staring at each other silently while her father processed this.

"Come to think of it, we never officially placed Moetatsuka off limits," Avaron said. "We've been... distracted."

"Ugh." Kaie shook her head. "Moetatsuka, thank you, but let's go. I can't have my daughter running off with you again." Moetatsuka didn't move though, only looked conflicted.

"No! She's staying with me!" Nariko grabbed Moetatsuka's arm. "We can help!"

"You're too young. I don't even like Rini being involved! I can't be worrying about both of you!" Madoka argued, not having it. "And you can't be dragging Moetatsuka around, she's dangerous!"

"She's not dangerous, she's _mine_! She'll do whatever I say and she won't hurt me!" Nariko glared back defiantly.

"She's not even re-" Madoka stopped mid-sentence, his face going blank.

"Oh my god." Kaie's jaw dropped, having put it together. "You _winged her_?"

"Rini did it too!" Nariko accused, pointing at her sister.

"Don't drag me into this!" Rini hissed, pulling her bed covers over her chin to hide.

"Well, it's not the worst thing. Doesn't this mean Moetatsuka is officially on our side?" Avaron tried to look on the bright side. Madoka and Kaie just immediately glared daggers at her. "Eep!" Avaron shrank back and made a zipping motion over her mouth, choosing not to intervene further.

"How could you be so reckless!" Kaie scolded her daughter. "This isn't a game-"

"I KNOW! I was there! She took them right in front of me! I'm not going to let them get away with that!" Nariko began yelling.

"Look, Nariko, you _weren't_ there Minaka started this whole mess the first time. I don't want you to be involved in this, it's too much." Madoka told her.

"Yeah? Well... you can't stop me." Nariko's face darkened. She stepped backwards, putting Moetatsuka between her and her parents.

"Excuse me?" Madoka stepped forward, but Moetatsuka, while surprised, quickly raised an arm to block his path.

"I have Moetatsuka! If you won't _let_ me help then I'll just figure it out myself!" For a moment they were all stunned silent, jaws agape.

"Nariko, you little shi-" Benitsubasa recovered first as her temper flared, but Madoka placed a hand on her shoulder.

"And what are you going to do?" Madoka stepped forward, ignoring Moetatsuka. "Have her attack me if I try to stop you? You don't even know where to begin!"

"I-I-" Nariko began to falter.

"Get out of my way, or are you going to kill your ashikabi's father in front of her?" Madoka stared down Moetatsuka, pure ice in his eyes. The sekirei flinched and quickly backed down, looking shaken. "Nariko, come here."

Trembling, the girl shuffled toward her father. The man stared down at her, but then reached out and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry. It's a lot, I know. You shouldn't have to deal with all this at your age." Madoka clenched his eyes shut. He let out a long breath. "All right, fine. You're already involved anyway, huh?"

"Madoka!" Kaie exclaimed in shock. "No!"

"The way I see it, no one is more invested in bringing the twins home safe than her." He sighed. "Besides, quite frankly I think we'll need Moetatsuka's... firepower."

"That better not have been a pun..." Benitsubasa glowered.

"I'm a dad, I'm entitled to dad jokes," Madoka said wryly with a half-smile.

"Why the fuck did I marry you?" Benitsubasa grumbled under her breath.

"Th-thank you..." Nariko sniffled.

Madoka let go of his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm letting you help, but you're going to have to listen to us and follow Rini's lead, got it?" He then looked to Moetatsuka. "And if she gets hurt out there, I'm holding _you_ responsible."

"I won't let anyone touch her!" Moetatsuka nodded, standing tall.

"And... boop!" Benitsubasa reached out and poked Nariko's nose before looking Moetatsuka dead in the eye. "You failed."

"W-wh-... I-... Uh-" Moetatsuka stuttered in bewilderment.

"So this is how Sukaime feels all the time."

 **. . .**

They forced her to stay in the infirmary for quite some time. She had no idea why, she felt fine, but unfortunately it was her parents who were in charge, so logic wasn't the main factor for keeping her in bed.

Finally, though, she was released the next morning. Her first stop was the hospital to see Sairiko. She needed to check in on her sekirei. Her father said she was OK, but Rini needed to see for herself, and so her father drove her to the hospital himself.

The second Rini walked into Sairiko's room, the sekirei became frantic.

"Rini!" the girl shot up in her bed, only to immediately flinch and grab her side where she'd been stabbed.

"Hey, hey, relax!" Rini rushed over to the girl's side to gently push her back down, but the second she was within arms' reach, Sairiko grabbed her and pulled her into a crushing embrace. Rini supposed she should be glad the sekirei was still in control enough to not turn her to mush.

"I-I was s-so worried! I w-woke up and you w-weren't moving!" Sairiko was in tears. "I-I... I couldn't keep you safe!"

"Oh, c-come on." With considerable effort Rini was able to extract herself from Sairiko's grasp. "It's not your fault."

"It is! All I could think about was what would happen if I lost! I knew if I lost that you'd be in danger, but I still couldn't win!" Sairiko hiccuped, balling up her sheets in her fists. "They already sent someone after you once before! I... I'm no good! Whether or not I'm there to protect you, I'm no good!"

"I-I-..." Rini swallowed hard. Sairiko felt useless and suddenly Rini could relate. She didn't know what to say.

"Ahem." Rini jumped as her father walked into the room, getting there attention. "I hate to interrupt your tearful reunion, but we need to talk."

"O-oh, um, about what?" Rini had to say she welcomed the distraction. Even Sairiko's tears turned to curious sniffles as she looked up at Madoka.

"Well, it's like Sairiko said. When she woke up, you were out like a light. Why?" Madoka asked, but it was a rhetorical question. "As far as we know you were never touched. Sadashi was nowhere near you and Nariko says she never saw her hit you. Did anything happen before she arrived?"

"Uhh." Rini traded a glance with Sairiko and then both shook their heads. "Not to me, no. She threatened me, but she never touched me. I-I... I guess I thought I just passed out because I was panicking."

"Don't be ridiculous," Madoka scoffed. "You took on Sairiko alone and watched Saki get punted through a building without passing out."

"Th-then... what?"

"Well, Avaron has a theory. We reviewed out satellite footage and found something. Think about it, you pass out and at the same time Sairiko gets back up? Something happened. Even if we suggest that Sairiko got back up because she thought you were hurt, that doesn't explain you passing out in the first place. Look."

Madoka held out a tablet and it showed a few blips on a map.

"That dot is Sairiko and the other is Sadashi. Watch." He hit a button and the two dots moved about and clashed. It was the fight the two had had. A third dot joined in and Sairiko's and Sadashi's dots separated – Moetatsuka's arrival. Madoka paused it here. "Now look at this." He pointed to a few squiggly lines to the side of the map. "These are their signatures. Around here, Sairiko's begins to weaken."

"Because she got hurt?" Rini guessed.

"Correct. Sekirei are tough, but when they get hurt, especially internal damage, the energy output of their cores starts to go down," he explained. "Now, here is when it gets _really_ interesting." He hit play again and suddenly Sairiko's frequency spiked, becoming absurdly energetic for a few seconds.

"What?" Rini had no idea what was going on. "Well, she must have pushed herself, right?"

"Perhaps, but look more closely." Madoka pointed at Sairiko's dot. Rini tilted her head but soon she saw it. It looked like there was a second dot beside her, but Sadashi and Moetatsuka were already accounted for.

"There was another sekirei? Who?" Rini ripped the tablet from Madoka's hands.

"Sairiko, did you see anyone?" Madoka asked, but the sekirei shook her head. "That's what I thought. Rini, you were the only one that close to her."

"OK?"

"Rini, that dot is you."

". . .WHAT?!"

"Calm down." Madoka sighed. "I'm not saying you're a sekirei. As an ashikabi you have a similar kind of energy in you, but no sekirei core. The thing is, that energy signature shouldn't be strong enough for the satellite to pick up like this. Especially when it's not even looking for ashikabi."

"Then what's going on?" Rini didn't know what to make of everything he was saying.

"I don't know, but clearly something happened between you two. We're... going to have to run tests. This could be very important."

"O... OK..." Sairiko hung her head, not looking pleased that she would be stuck in a lab again.

"Not on you," Madoka corrected her.

"M-m-me?!" Rini's pupils became terrified pinpoints.

"Sairiko was out of action. That suggests you did something, even if it was unintentional. Avaron's theory is that as Benitsubasa's daughter, you're... different from most ashikabi. Benitsubasa's tuning was severely messed up. We're thinking that while she was pregnant with you, she sort of... irradiated you with sekirei energy. Well, that's probably a pretty unscientific way of looking at it, but it's the best way I know how to put it so you'll understand." Madoka looked positively exhausted. Inside he was probably having a nervous breakdown. "Anyway, we need to get both of you back to the tower. We'll be looking over Sairiko too, just in case."

"What... what do you think you'll find?"

"Honestly? I have no idea."

 **. . .**

When they got back to the tower, they were led to one of the upper floors. Sairiko was in a wheelchair since her injury was still fresh. They were up on the floors where the sekirei tuning used to take place. The room they entered had lots of large, electronic equipment that even Rini couldn't put names to.

What surprised her was to see that her siblings were there. Not just Nariko, but Katsurou. This meant that Kaie and Saki were there as well.

"Dad?" Rini looked at Madoka questioningly.

"We figure if there _is_ something different about you, there might be something going on with them as well," Madoka told her. "Hopefully we'll know soon enough."

"You just had to be weird, didn't you?" Katsurou scowled at her, clearly not pleased to be dragged into the whole mess. Rini didn't appreciate his attitude, but she couldn't blame him either.

Mess _was_ the best word for it, after all.

 **. . .**

The testing took hours. Thankfully aside from one or two blood samples, most of the testing was non-invasive and mostly involved lots and lots of scanning. Her anxiety grew every time no answers came to light. She tried to guess what was happening based off of their faces, but in the end she gleaned little. They just looked permanently perplexed and worried.

Finally she and her siblings were sat down and it was time to see what they'd learned.

"Well, from what we can tell... Nariko, you're normal," Avaron told them, looking down at a clipboard.

"Damn it!" Nariko was actually disappointed.

"Which suggests we're not," Katsurou grumbled and crossed his arms.

"That's correct-" Avaron didn't get to finish her answer.

"Wait, I'm the _only_ one? DAMN IT!" Nariko was _very_ disappointed.

"Well, what we can extrapolate from this is that this is unique to Rini and Katsurou because of their mothers. Sukaime's children and any children Oriha has should also be normal, relatively speaking," Avaron explained. "Minaka's last ditch effort with Saki was to try and copy what had happened to Benitsubasa, so I'm guessing this is linked to their ability to draw directly from their cores at will."

"So what exactly is different about us?!" Rini asked the obvious question.

"Well, the good news is that it's nothing bad. It seems you have an unusually high concentration of sekirei energy within you. It's natural for ashikabi to produce a small amount of energy, and they can resonate with some of the technology like sekirei, though usually in less than ideal ways. You two, however, seem to be generating energy almost exactly like a sekirei core," Avaron told them, sounding quite fascinated.

"Umm... what?" Rini was less fascinated and more completely fucking confused.

"You kids are like tiny sekirei batteries," Benitsubasa put it as simply as possible.

"That's not a bad way to put it, honestly," Madoka chimed in. "We're thinking you transferred that energy to Sairiko and between her anger and the boost you gave her that's how she was able to launch that final attack. This kind of thing isn't entirely unheard of. Another ashikabi had an ability during the original catastrophe. His name was Seo. Apparently any sekirei he touched was rendered effectively powerless as long as he remained in contact."

"Although, admittedly, this still seems rather different." Avaron bit her lip, seeming to still be wrapping her own head around it all.

"Wow. Cool. Can I go now?" Katsurou clearly hated the revelation. Unlike she and her sister, Katsurou seemed to have a distaste for all things sekirei. It wasn't hate, obviously, for his mother was a sekirei, but beyond that he'd pulled away from it all as he got older.

"Yeah, sure, fine," Saki breathed out, a hint of annoyance in her voice. If Katsurou noticed, he ignored it and headed for the door. "But stay in the building, you can't walk home alone."

"Why not? We all know you can't protect me anyway ," he scoffed. Nearly everyone in the room went deathly silent and just stared.

"Katsurou!" Madoka, in contrast, was incensed, but Saki just waved him off.

"True, but you can't protect yourself either. I'm at least a decent distraction. Now wait for me or I'll chuck all your shit in the ocean." Saki didn't really show it, but Rini could only imagine that Katsurou's words had stung.

"Yeah... all right." Katsurou shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled off quietly. It seemed even he may have regretted his words as he didn't argue further.

"Anyway." Madoka pinched the bridge of his nose. Rini was starting to worry that the stress of everything was going to kill him. "Rini, I want you to work with Avaron. We need to see if you can control this little ability of yours. It could be the edge we need to end this mess."

"What should I do?" Nariko asked, probably feeling horribly left out.

"You and Moetatsuka can come with me to make up for the fact that I can't protect my son on my own." The slight squint of her eyes was the only indication that Saki was upset. As the three left, Benitsubasa pulled out her phone.

"Y'know, it'd be real unfortunate for him if Sukaime found out Katsurou was being a shithead." It looked like she was texting. Mercy had never really been her strong suit...

"Right... I know it's a lot to take in, but we should begin as soon as possible. Once you've rested, please come see me again," Avaron told Rini.

"Umm, do you have any idea how we're going to test this? Sairiko was hurt last time." Rini hoped her sekirei wouldn't be their test dummy.

"Please don't stab me again." Sairiko seemed to have the same train of thought.

 **. . .**

Rini stood before a white, metal sphere. It had a hexagonal pattern on its surface, like a many sided die. It was glowing faintly at the seams.

"Umm, what's this?" she asked. It was the day after she learned a strange new fact about herself. She'd decided not to waste any time.

"An artificial sekirei core," Avaron told her. "Well, that's not quite right. All sekirei cores are artificial constructs. This is our best replica of one, though greatly scaled up in size and quite frankly far less powerful. However, it'll do for our purposes."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, you were touching Sairiko at the time, yes?"

"Yeah." Rini nodded. She'd been holding the injured sekirei in her arms.

"Right. So, place your hands on the core and we'll simulate an injury by draining power from it. With any luck, this will draw out your energy. If we can get you to do it at will, you'll have another option in a fight."

Rini did as she was told and touched it. It felt warm and vibrated ever so slightly beneath her hands. Every hair on her body stood up on end.

"Ready?" Avaron asked, standing before a computer console. Rini took a deep breath and then nodded. After a few moments, the vibrations from the core began to weaken until she couldn't feel it anymore. "Anything?"

"No." Rini pursed her lips. This was going to be difficult, wasn't it?

They continued for a half-hour, with Rini trying various ways to focus and trigger the transfer of energy. It was still early, but the lack of even a hint of progress was quickly demoralizing her.

"This isn't working." Avaron's words gave voice to Rini's doubts. "I'm trying something a little different." With Rini's hands still on the core, she felt the life from it vanish almost instantly. And yet her hands tingled as if being shocked and she jerked away.

"Um?" Rini looked at Avaron with some alarm.

"OK, that's what I thought. As with just about everything concerning sekirei, emotion is involved. In this case, a sense of urgency. I'm going to do that again. I need you to do two things. First, don't let go this time. Two, I want you to try and remember how you felt when Sairiko was injured."

"Yeah, OK." Rini didn't exactly relish the thought, but if that's what was necessary...

She shut her eyes and did her best to remember the moment. It wasn't easy. It wasn't something she wanted to think about. It reminded her of how helpless she'd felt, so close to losing her sekirei. She felt her nails scratching against the core as she forced herself to face that pain.

She felt the energy drain from the core again, and she felt the tingling in her hands. She didn't let go this time, but still, nothing more happened. "Dammit!" She opened her eyes, glaring at the inert core. Why couldn't she do it? What if Sairiko needed her again and it didn't just work again? Sairiko was miserable, doing all the real work and still feeling worthless while she herself couldn't even do this one thing! "DAMMIT! JUST WORK!" She snapped, shouting at it.

She saw a bright red flash and then...

 **. . .**

"Rini? Ah, good, you're awake." Rini found herself back in the infirmary.

"Ugh, my head..." she groaned.

"Yes, you, uh, hit your head when you fell. Perhaps we should conduct further tests from a seated position." Avaron averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"S-so... I did it?"

"It would seem so. You nearly overloaded the core. It wasn't really intended for such... intense surges of power." Avaron nodded. "You'd certainly be able to give Sairiko a considerable boost if necessary. Although, if you pass out every time that's less helpful. We should keep trying and see if you can't manage the process more efficiently."

"Right. So do we stand a chance now?" Rini felt a tiny spark of hope ignite. Maybe she really could do this.

"Well, actually, that's something I've been wondering about." Avaron pulled up a chair to Rini's bedside and sat. "Sadashi is powerful, yes, but Sairiko should have been able to win. Winging her should have given her a considerable advantage. After all, she was able to unleash an attack that forced Sadashi to retreat... I just don't understand how things got so dire in the first place."

"I-I don't know. I mean I thought Sairiko was winning. It was kind of close. I guess Sadashi just caught her off guard. I mean, we weren't _trying_ to kill her, but Sadashi didn't care about things like that, so-"

"Even so, it never should have been 'close.' You had every advantage. Norito, for example. And you two have been close for years, so you should be in sync." Avaron looked at a loss.

"R-right... I don't know..." To be honest, Rini hadn't even remembered norito was an option.

"Is something wrong?" Avaron caught on quickly.

"I... I'm just worried I'm not cut out for this. We handled Moetatsuka together, but I feel like that was just luck. Sairiko wasn't even supposed to be there and then we just winged it. Now that we're trying to do it on purpose... I... I don't know." Rini lay back and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know if we really are in sync."

"Why not?"

"I mean, she's in _love_ with me! And... I wasn't really ready for that. I only winged her because I thought we were out of options. I kind of wish I hadn't."

"So you don't love her then?" Avaron raised an eyebrow.

"Not... like that."

"I see. And does she know this?"

"I think so." Rini bit her lip nervously. Did this make her a bad ashikabi?

"Well then. That would certainly do it." Avaron sighed. "She's pouring herself out for someone who won't return her feelings. I'm sure that's exhausting, not to mention horribly distracting in a fight. After all, this isn't her battle. She's only involved at this point because of you."

Rini flinched. She hadn't thought about it like that. "Th-then what should I do? I can't _make_ myself love her, can I?"

"Well, you've been friends for years haven't you? Just because she's lost some of those memories doesn't mean you have. You must care about her to some extent."

"Of course, but it's not the same thing!"

"It's _something_. She's doubting herself right now. You have to remind her that you still care!" Avaron shook her head. "Look, it's not exactly the same, but I was in a similar situation with Masukagami. She gave her everything to me and I felt I couldn't return that. My guilt was doubled because at the time I wasn't quite in my right mind so I was truly awful toward her. I kept trying to push her away and so both of us suffered. It only got better when I finally gave in."

"Yeah, and now you two are like... _together_. What if I can't just do that?"

"That's just it. It didn't immediately become that, not really. I told myself I'd love her in whatever way I could. Perhaps it's nature of our bond that let it become more. As an added bonus, that bond has given me a lot of peace. Otherwise I'd be medicated until I was numb." Avaron smiled. "All that matters is that she knows you love her, in whatever way that's true."

"I... I guess." Rini wasn't sure how she felt about that. It almost sounded like giving into some sort of brainwashing that would eventually _make_ her fall in love with Sairiko.

"Rini." Avaron looked at her suspiciously, her smile gone. "Tell me, what exactly did you say to Sairiko?"

"Ugh..." Rini still felt bad about that. "I... I told her I wished I hadn't winged her and that I could undo it." She immediately felt uncomfortable when Avaron didn't answer and instead shot to her feet and stared at her, expression having gone cold.

And then Avaron struck her. A slap across the face.

"Stupid child!" Avaron hissed. "How long have you lived with sekirei? How could you say something like that?"

Rini trembled and shrunk back. She'd never seen Avaron like this. She looked wild.

"I-I-... b-but-"

"SHUT UP!" she snapped. "You have no excuse! How do you think your mother would feel if Madoka said that to her? Or any of them! If I ever said that to Masukagami it would destroy her! I nearly did destroy her in the past! The fact that Sairiko isn't a useless lump on the floor is a miracle!" Avaron raised her hand again, but then clenched it shut and sucked in a sharp breath. "That you dragged her into a fight after saying that to her makes me sick."

Rini hiccuped. She'd never been hit before either, not in anger, not like this. Every word made her feel like trash.

"Get up!" Avaron barked her order and Rini scrambled to obey, trembling legs barely holding her up. "Go home. Don't come back. I don't want to see you until you've fixed this." The viciousness in her words truly terrified Rini. She felt Avaron might actually hurt her if she disobeyed.

"I-"

"GO!" Avaron screamed and Rini didn't try to speak again, she just scrambled from the room as quickly as she could without falling over.

 **. . .**

Having heard Avaron's banshee-like screaming, Madoka hurried into the infirmary. In the distance he saw his daughter hurrying away, albeit somewhat unsteadily.

"Avaron... the hell was that?" he asked looking at Avaron as she took deep, heaving breaths.

"Nothing that wasn't necessary." Avaron let out her next breath slowly, trying to steady herself. "Though... I may have overreacted. Also, Rini isn't my favorite of your children anymore."

"Wh-. . . you were picking favorites?"

"Of course. They're not _my_ children."

 **. . .**

She didn't trust herself to drive, so she had one of their employees drive her home. The benefits of being part of a large corporation she supposed.

She made it about six steps into her house before she fell against a wall and slid to the floor, curling up into a tear-stained ball. She wasn't sure how long she lay there before she heard the door open.

"Ah! Rini-sama! I was worried, I couldn't find you and then they said you went home!" It was Sairiko. The sekirei rushed over to her side and knelt down, looking worried.

Rini looked up at Sairiko and then began shaking even harder, bursting into tears once again. She'd just been _screamed_ at for basically being a terrible ashikabi, and then she'd gone and abandoned her sekirei. Again.

"Rini-sama, what's wrong." Sairiko reached for her, but Rini swatted her hands away. The lasted for about two seconds before Sairiko decided to just overpower Rini and pull her off the floor and onto her lap. "Rini!"

"Why?" Rini hiccuped. "Why do you care? I said I wished I hadn't winged you, so why?"

"Well... you don't hate me, right?"

"Huh? N-no!"

"Yeah, because you were worried about me even then. And now you're going through all these tests and working hard to help me." Sairiko smiled. Rini couldn't believe it. Even after what she'd said, Sairiko was only looking for the best in her. "So I have to try harder so I don't let you down again."

"Let... me... down?" Rini shook her head. "No, I'm the one who's letting you down! I'm just... a bad ashikabi. I don't know what I'm doing!" She lifted her head up to meet Sairiko's eyes. "It's my fault you got hurt."

"But I don't blame you-"

"That's the problem! I winged you and now you're following me into all this danger and all I'm doing is holding you back! And you're just letting me! I don't understand!"

"Because I'm your sekirei," Sairiko spoke with absolute certainty. "And you need my help. I don't want anyone to hurt you!"

"How much... do you remember?" Rini asked. "You know, from before all this?"

"Bits and pieces. I remember things all the time."

"I spent a lot of time with all the sekirei. My mothers' stories were fascinating, so I wanted to know what all the other sekirei were like. But you, you always followed me around. They always joked and said you were like a dog, following me because I fed you." Rini lips twitched into a smile, if only for a moment. "Sometimes I'd stay there overnight, because you'd cry when I left. My parents hated that."

"I was afraid you'd forget me," Sairiko whispered, as if just remembering it. "You... you wanted to to know every sekirei, but there are so many. You'd get mad when you forgot one... I didn't want you to forget me. I wanted you to know who I was."

"And you barely had any friends because you were so obsessed with me. I don't even know why."

"There were dozens of us, but only one of you. If you paid attention to me, it meant I was special... because you were special." Sairiko squeezed her affectionately. "You let me stay with you, all that time. I'm not leaving now when you need me the most. I don't care how badly I get hurt or how many hits I need to take for you." Her expression hardened. "You gave me what I wanted the most, so now I'll fight to keep it."

Rini couldn't take anymore. She couldn't form words. She wrapped her arms around Sairiko's neck and buried her face in the sekirei's shoulder, hiding while at the same time seeking comfort.

"Rini..." Sairiko sounded nervous now. "You said before that you couldn't feel anything towards those people. Um... is that how it is with me?"

". . . no."

 **. . .**

Avaron was hard at work in the MBI labs. They only had one, tiny lead that might not lead anywhere: Sadashi's arm. Even if it came to something, she wasn't sure Rini and Nariko would be ready, but she needed to focus on something. On top of everything else, her outburst at Rini the night before was eating away at her. After calming down, she'd felt terrible.

She was interrupted by the sound of the lab door sliding open.

"Avaron, I'm ready to try again." She recognized Rini's voice. She took a deep breath. Guilty or not, Rini needed to fix things.

"So, have y-" Avaron turned around to see Rini there with Sairiko, hand-in-hand. With a gasp she hurried over, embracing the two of them and spoke with a shaking voice, "I'm glad."

 **. . .**

Rini sat up in bed and groaned, "Ugh, not again." The infirmary bed, to be specific. Apparently attempt number twelve had also ended in her passing out.

"Sorry, kid." It seemed her mother was waiting for her this time. "Good news is you're recovering faster each time. Pretty soon you might make it to three times a day."

"Yeah, and while I'm doing my best fainting goat impression, Minaka is still out there experimenting on the twins," Rini grumbled, not feeling particularly encouraged.

"Well, if it helps, Avaron thinks she might be able to find a way to get the satellites to find Sadashi despite whatever method Minaka is using to hide," Benitsubasa told her.

"Yeah, but if I can't help-"

"Stop. This little trick is just a trump card. A last ditch effort. Your dad and I never had something like that. As long as I knew he was behind me, I never let anything stop me. You and Sairiko just have to trust each other."

"I'd feel better if I could actually _do_ something, though." Rini's eyes fell to her hands where they lay on her lap.

"Heh, I guess your father had the same problem once. He was so distraught he cheated on me." Benitsubasa pursed her lips.

"WHAT?!" Rini's jaw dropped.

"Eh, it was with Sukaime so it worked out, but anyway." Benitsubasa waved it off. "Point is, you're not a fighter. You're there to be moral support and a quick kiss if needed. More importantly, you can't doubt her. I got up after some serious ass beatings and still won because Madoka didn't give up on me."

"I just... hope that's enough this time."

"Hey." Benitsubasa sat on Rini's bedside, putting an arm around her. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this. It's not your fight, I know. I'd like nothing more than to do this for you." She grimaced. "Seriously, I'd give anything to shove my fist up his smug ass!" She stopped to take a breath, calming down a bit. "But you and Sairiko have something your father and I didn't. You've known each other for years. Your bond runs a lot deeper than ours did back then. Use that."

"How?"

"Do you love her? Do you get scared when she's in trouble? Do you hurt when she does?" Benitsubasa jabbed her finger into Rini's chest, over her heart. Rini's face flushed, but she nodded. "Then don't hide from that and never look away! If she gets knocked down and it hurts so much that she doesn't think she can stand, you tell her to get up anyway! Never accept that she can lose! You can't give up and you can't let her give up, because if you do, then she's gone!" Benitsubasa stared into her eyes. "Just as much as you want her to come back to you, she wants to come back to you. You make sure she can, and you be waiting with open arms. She'll give every ounce of strength as long as you're there to hold her up when it's over!"

Rini felt her heart starting to pound, it was all starting to feel too real. "OK." She tried to take a breath and steady herself. "O-OK..." It didn't help. "Mom... I'm scared."

It was a rare moment where her mother's tough facade cracked. She looked pained and she pulled her daughter close. "I know. I... I wish there was something I could do. But I believe in you, and you're not alone."

 **. . .**

Rini awoke with a start. Her face had been practically plastered against the false core, her drool running down it. "Ugh." She shook her head to clear it. "You couldn't have sat me up? My face hurts..."

"Sorry. At least you're waking up faster. No need for me to lug you to the infirmary anymore," Avaron told her. "You should be safe to try again in about ten minutes."

"So I guess I'm getting better, but how long until I can do it without passing out?" Rini asked.

"Impossible to say unfortunately. You're improving steadily, but-"

"If there's a but, then it's no good, is it?" Rini sighed in defeat. She could do the math. It would take her at least another week, assuming it was even possible to retain consciousness during the transfer. She wasn't going to give up yet, but she wasn't holding on to much hope.

At least she had a chair now so she wouldn't smack her head every time she fainted.

She heard the door slide open and had to wonder who was looking in on her this time. It was getting tiring honestly. Someone or another, usually her parents, kept popping by to try and encourage her. It might have been more helpful if their words didn't feel so hollow and forced.

"Rini! Are you still just sitting around?" Well, that was... refreshing. Apparently Nariko was there to yell at her.

"And what else should I be doing?" Rini twisted in her chair to look at her grumpy little sister.

"I'm sorry, Nariko, but presently this is the best use of her time. We haven't located Minaka yet," Avaron spoke up.

"Well maybe you'd have found him by now if you weren't wasting time here!" Nariko snapped. Rini was stunned for a moment. Nariko had always been mouthy, but lately she was blowing her fuse at a moment's notice.

"These things take time," Avaron spoke through clenched teeth. "If there was anything more I could do right now, I assure you I would be doing it."

"Well it's taking too much time!" Nariko wasn't appeased in the slightest. "He's had them for days!"

"Sis, I know, but-"

"But what? When you found Sairiko she tried to kill you! What if they don't remember me by the time we find them!" And suddenly it was obvious what had been eating at her. Rini should have known better. Of course it had been obvious Nariko wanted revenge and was worried about the twins, but Rini hadn't really stopped to think of what might happen if finding them took too long.

She couldn't blame her for losing her cool. She wasn't a scientist, so she couldn't help with tracking down Minaka, and she had no special powers she could spend time learning to control. All she could do was wait an slowly lose her mind as the worry piled on and grew with every day that passed with Koumi and Tetsuko left in Minaka's hands.

"She... has a point," Rini spoke, suddenly rather subdued.

"Yes." Avaron was forced to agree. "In which case, we must face reality."

"What are you talking about?" Nariko narrowed her eyes.

"You said it yourself. They might not remember you. They might try to kill you. You'll have no choice but to fight back," Avaron told them. Nariko bit her lip. It was clear the girl had already thought of that, even if she didn't want to say it out loud. "So you should know what you may be up against."

"I guess... that's a good point. So what can they do?" Rini asked. Nariko had gone silent at this point. A logical discussion on how to defeat her friends was too much for her it seemed.

Avaron took a moment to pull up the necessary information on the computer before her. "They're... interesting. We've labeled them as support types. They're most powerful when working alongside each other, and even more so with another sekirei. It seems that they're living weapons of some sort. Tetsuko is focused on melee, and Koumi's abilities are better at range. Beyond that, since we've no actual combat data on them, I can't say." Avaron sighed. "In short, do your best to keep them separated from Hyoushi and Sadashi. There are two of you, so you should be fine."

Nariko sniffled and Rini could tell she was moments from breaking down crying. "I-it's not fair. A week ago they were with me, just worrying about their homework... I don't want to hurt them!"

"I know, but you need to accept that you might have no choice-" Avaron paused mid sentence, something behind Nariko catching her attention.

"Nariko-sama?" It was Moetatsuka.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Nariko turned around and blinked the tears out of her eyes.

"I... felt that you might need me. You seem upset." The sekirei approached her ashikabi. "I overheard a bit... the... twins, yes? I promise you that if it becomes necessary, I will bring them back to you alive."

"B-but what if _you_ get hurt?"

"Then that's fine. Cuts and bruises heal. As... long as you can forgive the methods I may have to use, I promise everything will be OK. As long as you don't end up crying again- Ah! N-Nariko?"

Nariko hiccuped, snot and tears now running down her face. "I-Idiot, you're making me cry right now!" she wailed and began bawling outright.

"N-no! Nariko! Uh, um, wh-wh-what should I-" Moetatsuka's composure shattered and she began panicking. However, Avaron strode over and shoved Nariko into Moetatsuka's arms. Nariko immediately clung to the sekirei like a baby koala while Moetatsuka turned redder than a ripe tomato.

"Th-thank you... Moetatsuka..." Nariko whimpered between gasping sobs.

"Was my mom this uncoordinated?" Rini whispered to Avaron.

"No... and that's saying something."

 **. . .**

They'd assured Nariko that they'd do their best to get the twins back, but they still had no leads to go on. There was only one path left open to them. It wasn't exactly a good one, though. Barring somehow getting the satellites find Minaka's hiding spot, they could only wait.

The one thing they knew for sure is that Minaka wasn't done. He would make another move.

Waiting for that move to be made all but assured that Nariko's fears would come to pass.

At the very least they were trying to prepare, and in a way that allowed Nariko to participate.

 _BANG!_

The sound of screeching metal followed the sound of an explosion. Rini feared the tower would come down around them, but she'd been assured the building could take it. They were in a large room located underneath the tower. While most of the floors were above ground, it also had three sub-levels.

So long as they didn't _really_ push it, they could allow the sekirei to practice before they had to fight again.

Sairiko had dropped to one knee, leaning heavily on her sword. The blade glowed red from the heat of Moetatsuka's blasts. She was panting and look exhausted. Moetatsuka, meanwhile, was barely even sweating.

"So... are you holding back or something? Not that I _want_ you to bring down the entire tower, but last I heard you were leveling forests with nuclear force winds." Benitsubasa crossed her arms, having been observing. She didn't seem impressed by Sairiko's performance.

"Sh-she's stronger than last time... a-and I don't have my norito-" Moetatsuka pushed herself to her feet, but Benitsubasa scoffed.

" _I don't have my norito_!" Benitsubasa mocked the girl and sighed. "Kid I won most of my fights without mine! No excuse! I beat a guy who literally _killed_ things by touching them _with my bare hands_! _You_ have a giant sword!"

"M-mom, go easy on her. Moetatsuka's a strong sekirei." Rini placed a comforting hand on Sairiko's shoulder.

"WRONG ANSWER!"

"I-I wasn't answering a question-"

"Do _not_ make excuses for your sekirei!" Benitsubasa snapped. "You can't let her think it's OK to lose!"

"She's not a dog to be trained!" Rini began to get riled up herself.

"No, she's a sekirei who has to fight for her life _and yours_!" Benitsubasa shot back.

"Do you _want_ us to lose!?" Nariko chimed in, sounding annoyed.

"What I want is for Sairiko to not get steamrolled! I could do better than her and my tuning is a mess!"

"Then why don't you try!" Rini immediately regretted it. Her mother raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"You know what? Fine." Benitsubasa walked to the middle of the room. "Nariko, Moetatsuka, get out of the way."

"Are... you serious?" Nariko's jaw dropped.

"Yes." Benitsubasa rolled her neck, her spine popping as she loosened herself up.

". . . awesome." Nariko hurried off to the side with Moetatsuka. She actually seemed excited to see what Benitsubasa could do first hand.

"All right, now come at me." Benitsubasa motioned for Sairiko to begin.

"Go ahead," Rini also gave her sekirei permission.

Sairiko seemed hesitant for a moment, but hefted her sword and charged into battle. It was... laughable. It was like watching a dump truck try to outpace a sports car. Sairiko wielded her large blade with agility that no normal person could ever hope to achieve, but Benitsubasa was pretty much running circles around her.

"OK, this is just getting silly." Benitsubasa sighed and her left hand began to crackle with energy. She stopped moving. As Sairiko made her next attack with an overhead chop, Benitsubasa just lifted her hand and caught the blade by the edge. "Tell me this isn't it. Are you _that_ tired?" Benitsubasa scowled in disappointment.

Sairiko grit her teeth, irked by the suggestion. She tore her blade free of the smaller sekirei's grasp and then swung horizontally. Benitsubasa ducked and hopped back.

"You're supposed to be a monster compared to me! Keeping up should be easy!" Benitsubasa began to glow and soon the whole room was bathed red by the light that shone from her. "COME ON!" In a flash the light vanished, and so did Benitsubasa. When they saw her next, she was planting her fist squarely in Sairiko's gut.

Sairiko went stiff, gasping for air. Benitsubasa removed her fist and the sword-wielder fell to a knee, choking in pain.

Something in Rini began to boil over. The way Benitsubasa looked down at Sairiko as she struggled to breath. The condescension and disapproval that she saw was too much. Did she think Sairiko wasn't good enough?

" _Don't... look at her like that!"_ Rini clenched her fists. "Sairiko." She spoke. She felt calm and yet hateful at the same time. "Stop holding back. The building can take it..." She met her mother's eyes. "And so can she."

Her mother looked taken aback, but then she grinned. "Ha, what's this? Feeling rebellious?"

Rini let Sairiko speak for her. The sekirei stabbed her blade into the concrete and pushed herself up. She then ripped it free and let the massive blade rest on her shoulder. She suddenly seemed brimming with confidence.

 **. . .**

"All right, round two!" Benitsubasa shot forward. She wasn't sure exactly what she expected to have changed... but Sairiko flowing out of the way of her punch like Benitsubasa was moving in slow motion wasn't it. "Eh?" She had but a moment to glance up and see the faint blue shimmer coming from Sairiko's right eye... before the back of Sairiko's left fist careened into her jaw.

Benitsubasa effectively pirouetted, spinning on her back foot before sliding to a stop fifteen feet away. Her jaw ached and she was pretty sure her lip was bleeding.

"O-OK... that's a little better..." Benitsubasa panted. _"Why is the room spinning?"_

Sairiko gripped her sword with both hands and swung it diagonally, one then twice, creating an X. Benitsubasa grunted as she felt a wave of pressure crash into her from both sides, sandwiching her. It took everything she had to keep it from crushing her.

"This... isn't... good..." Benitsubasa could only watch and Sairiko's blade cleaved through the floor, sending one last blast of air hurtling into her, lifting her clean off the ground. Sairiko then flew toward her, quickly closing the gap. She pulled her sword back, and Benitsubasa supposed she was glad that she spun it around, bringing the dull edge to bear. "Oh shi-" Was all she could utter before she was batted clear across the room, slamming forcefully into the wall, concrete crumbling into dust from the collision.

 **. . .**

Rini watched her mother fall out of the crater left in the wall. Her body crackled with with energy, but it dissipated as she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath.

"Um... Rini? Don't you think that was a bit much?" Nariko's eyes were wide and she looked a bit scared.

"N-no." Benitsubasa coughed and struggled to her feet. She staggered her way past Sairiko and over to Rini. She slowed only long enough to speak, "Remember... how that felt... and stop holding back," and then brushed past her daughter to make for the elevator.

"What?" Rini didn't understand. Isn't that what she'd just done?

"You heard me," Benitsubasa grumbled and practically fell into the elevator, leaning against the wall as she hit the buttons. "Fuck... I haven't been hit that hard since Miya."

 **. . .**

Rini wasn't sure what to think about what had happened. A small tinge of guilt was starting to eat at her. Why had it taken going after her own mother to get Sairiko fired up enough? Her mother would be fine though... right?

She decided to just sleep on it and talk to her mother tomorrow. Hopefully there wouldn't be any hard feelings.

"Sairiko, what do you want for dinner? I think you've earned something nice." Rini chuckled. Regardless of anything else, at least Sairiko had done well in the end.

The girl's eyes lit up. She did love her food. "Um-" But before she could answer, a heavy series of knocks rattled the walls. Someone was at the door – someone angry. Before she could even get to the door, it unlocked itself and slammed open.

It was Sukaime.

"Oh crap."

* * *

 **Oho, she's pissed!**

 **So yeah, this was gonna be the last chapter but then I realized the chapter lengths would have been horribly lopsided, so I'm ending this one here.**

 **Anyway, glad to see some familiar faces in the reviews... Or rather only familiar faces. Understandable, being that this is a sequel. Regardless, welcome back! Hopefully this is at least a fun read even if it doesn't entirely live up to Violent Hearts. That's mostly what I was going for, honestly, just some fun.**

 **And we learned that Avaron can still lose her shit! So that's cool.**

 **Til' next time!**


	4. Breakdown

***Drunkenly stumbles in* What the hell? Where are all the reviews for chapter four?**

 _ **You haven't posted it yet.**_

 **Wh-**

 _ **You haven't even FINISHED it yet.**_

 **. . . So yeah I may have gotten. . . sidetracked. But I always return! *ignores half a dozen unfinished and abandoned Naruto fics***

* * *

 **Breakdown**

It was at that moment that Rini truly understood she was screwed. "H-hey, Sukaime." The sekirei just glowered at her with a murderous intent that let her know that being related to the woman was the only thing keeping her safe. "I-I can explain-"

"I don't think you can," Sukaime finally spoke. She stepped into the house and her hand flew up, grabbing Rini's ear.

"Owowowow!" Rini was dragged into her living room and then roughly thrown onto her couch. "Um-"

"Sit down and shut up!" Sukaime finally snapped.

Sairiko, bless her, tried to come to Rini's defense, "If this is about the fight, I-"

"You stay out of this! I have no love for you!" Sukaime turned on the sekirei. "Leave!"

"Wh-"

"OUT!" Sukaime shouted. Rini shrugged helplessly and the bigger, stronger sekirei shuffled timidly from the room. After that, Sukaime began pacing back and forth, fuming internally. Rini could only imagine what she was thinking. Sairiko was probably right, and it was no secret that Sukaime loved Benitsubasa just as much as her father. Some would argue she loved her even more.

"Um-" Rini's nerves peaked at the torturous silence.

"She's your mother!"

"I-I know, but-"

"But nothing! She was in the hospital barely more than a week ago!" Sukaime yelled. "What the hell were you thinking? You know full well Sairiko is even stronger and you had her go all out!"

"But she-"

"Shut the fuck up! I'm not done!" Sukaime's voice broke. She was crying. "What if she'd messed up? Do you have any idea what we went through? The kind of pain we endured? Real pain! We don't need more of it from you!" Rini didn't even try speaking again. "If you ever, _EVER_ do something that stupid again I will terminate Sairiko myself!"

"What!? No! You can't-"

"I CAN AND I WILL! DO NOT PUSH ME!" Sukaime roared and the whole room shook. Sometimes Rini forgot that just like her other mothers, Sukaime was plenty powerful and could be terrifying if she wanted to be. She was still a sekirei. "Now say it!"

"I-I... I won't do it again..." Rini whimpered.

"Fucking hell, you're supposed to be the smart one!" Sukaime pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes, trying to calm down. "Anyway, all I heard was that she pissed you off. What the hell happened?"

Rini hung her head. Thinking back about it, she felt childish – and certainly not like "the smart one." Nevertheless, she told the story, though she didn't go into great detail. She didn't want to relive it, not after Sukaime had shoved enough guilt down her throat to make her sick.

"Dammit, Beni..." Sukaime spoke under her breath and sighed, sitting down beside Rini. For a split second, Rini almost felt better, feeling that maybe she really wasn't all to blame, or that her actions weren't entirely unjustified. "Oh no, you're still on my shit list!" Sukaime glared sideways at her.

"Did you jus-"

"Read you? Yes." Sukaime squinted. "Well, at least now I know what happened."

"Y-yeah?" But what exactly did she think of it all?

"You're an idiot. The special kind of idiocy you can only inherit from your mom..." Sukaime grumbled. "Really? This is what it took to put you two in sync?"

"What?"

"Are we talking about me now?" Sairiko poked her head into the room... only to have it bitten off.

"Sairiko, I swear!" Sukaime's arm whipped out, pointing violently in the other sekirei's direction. "Your ass! In a blender! OUT!" With a concerned whimper, Sairiko slunk off once more. Sukaime took a deep breath before continuing. "What I'm saying is that I'm pissed that _this_ is what it took for you to draw her power out and that you then proceeded to unleash it on your mom. I've heard you two were having... issues."

"Yeah, but we worked those out a while ago." Rini didn't understand.

"Really?" Sukaime looked at her with the utmost condescension.

"I-I thought so..." Rini hung her head. "W-we talked and I thought things were better."

"Eh? What? Like... one time?" Sukaime raised her eyebrow. Rini didn't respond, just doing her best to shrink herself down and blend into the couch. "Yeah, and I'm sure it gave you butterflies and squiggly wigglies-"

"Squiggly wigglies?" Rini blinked.

"Shut up, I'm talking at you!" Sukaime snapped and went on. "And then every time you thought about it, you felt nervous so you ignored it and tried to just move on like everything was suddenly fixed."

"And?"

"And ignoring your feelings is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do, numskull!" Sukaime slapped the back of her head. "You're just pulling away from her all over again! The worst part is that I don't get _why!_ Your father had a good reason to be freaked out in the beginning, but you two actually know each other and it's just the two of you!"

"Well maybe I just don't like girls..." Rini muttered quietly, lest Sairiko overhear.

"Why not?" Sukaime looked at her blankly, seeming legitimately confused.

"Not everyone is like you! You can't just learn to be that way!" Rini kept glancing at the doorway, afraid Sairiko was still eavesdropping.

Sukaime scoffed. "Your mother learned..."

"OK, _ew_! I don't need to hear about that!" Rini squirmed and shuddered.

"But didn't you have at least one girlfriend?" Sukaime asked and Rini broke into a coughing fit.

"I kept them a secret! Were you spying on me?!"

"Yes," Sukaime told her bluntly. "The one I saw was cute too. If I didn't know how things were gonna turn out, I'd have said go for it. Actually, the polygamy thing _can_ work-"

"OK, OK! We're getting off topic! Obviously it _didn't_ work out! We never even kissed!"

"Yeah... me and her were real disappointed about that..."

"Please stop reading minds." Rini's eye twitched.

"No promises." Sukaime shrugged. "So, you had secret girlfriends that you never kissed and then a bunch of boyfriends, who you also never kissed."

"You can't know th-" The look in Sukaime's eye suggested that she definitely knew that. "OK fine, your point?"

"Why?" And there it was. She really didn't want to have this conversation again, and definitely not with Sukaime of all mothers.

"B-because..."

"Yes?"

"Because I'm the exact opposite of you! You can feel everything if you want! Your emotions, other people's emotions, but when I try to get close to someone I just feel empty!" She was in no condition to be repressing things, unfortunately.

"And how long has this been a problem?"

"A-almost... ten years."

Sukaime's face fell into her palms. "Holy shit, Rini." She took a deep breath, let it out, and then took another. "D-did we do something wrong? Is it us?"

"What?"

"Why would you keep something like that to yourself!? Do you not trust us?"

"No! It's just... I was... embarrassed. I didn't think you'd understand." Honestly, she still wasn't sure they would. Part of the reason she'd felt that way was because her parents all seemed so happy. She'd thought that if she couldn't be like them, then something was wrong with her. Of course she didn't want anyone to know that. She was the oldest child, she had appearances to keep up and examples to set. She'd just buried it all and given up on relationships.

"Hm. So you don't feel anything for your sekirei? Wow, that sucks."

"I-it's not like that." Rini's cheeks flushed a little. Sukaime practically tripped while sitting down and looked at her with total befuddlement.

"Then what the hell is the problem!?"

Rini had no answer. If she'd known that, she'd have fixed it by now.

"Ah, wait, no... I get it." Sukaime crossed her arms. With the initial shock over, it seemed she'd thought of something. "You've got the yips. You're gun-shy."

"Eh?"

"You grew up with five moms, all of whom are sekirei. Then, you also grew up around Avaron and her sekirei. And _then_ two ships filled with even _more_ sekirei crashed and you grew up with _them_. And on top of _all_ of that, you're some weirdo with sekirei powers or something."

"Weirdo huh? Gee, thanks, Sukaime..." Rini sighed. As if she wasn't self conscious enough as it was.

"Oh get over it." Sukaime rolled her eyes. "Point is, you spent your whole childhood with sekirei, feeling that connection, and then when you grew up and it was time to ogle all those lovely high-schoolers, it's no wonder they came up short. Something was missing."

"S-so... you're saying-"

"To put it hilariously, I'd say you're sekirei-sexual. Thing is, when you hit puberty and were ready to date, all the sekirei were either way older than you, or too young for you. So of course you started your romantic escapades with boring old humans. You know what happened from there."

"And?"

"And because all those relationships failed miserably, I'd say it's no wonder you'd be freaked out and lost once you winged a sekirei and started feeling something. To put it in comparison, your father grew up normally, had a few girlfriends, and _then_ found sekirei. I mean, aside from being awesome, we at least _look_ human enough, so it's not much of a leap. More of an upgrade really." Rini decided to ignore how arrogant that sounded... "Not only did you not know what to do with those emotions, you were just plain scared of the idea of a relationship."

"Oh..." Rini supposed that made sense. It was a lot to take in, but... wasn't it kind of a good thing? Well, maybe not, but in her situation it meant there was hope, right?

"Which of course sucks royally for Sairiko who has to deal with your skittish bullshit."

"Ugh..." Rini slumped over, once more feeling _that_ guilt slam into her.

"You can't keep hiding from those feelings!"

"Well what _should_ I do?" Rini was at a loss.

"I dunno. Drag her into bed and see where that leads?" Sukaime shrugged.

"H-hey! That's not the kind of thing a mother should say!"

"Come on, how do you think you got so many siblings? It's totally natural for an ashikabi and his or her sekirei to-"

"NOPE!" Rini slammed her hands over her ears. She didn't need to hear it, she'd never forget the time she caught Kaie in her old outfit, telling Madoka it was for "old time's sake." She'd spent the rest of the day out of the house trying to bleach her brain.

"Fine, fine." Sukaime rolled her eyes but Rini kept her hands in place. "Are you done?"

". . . I guess." Rini let her arms drop to her sides and Sukaime pulled her close, gently stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to deal with, but you gotta get your head on straight, OK? Sairiko needs you. We all need you."

It seemed she'd survived the wrath of Sukaime. The woman didn't stay much longer after that, no doubt wanting to return to Benitsubasa. The issue was that with her gone, Sairiko was once more free to move about.

She supposed she had to deal with that now. Again.

When, and more importantly _how,_ was she to put her issues with Sairiko to rest? She felt like she kept making progress, but in the form of baby steps. Baby steps up a mountain that everyone expected her to scale by the end of the week.

And that was the worst part. She didn't know how long she really had. Maybe she did have all the time she needed to figure things out. Maybe Minaka would attack tomorrow.

She decided to take the initiative and headed to the back of her house to find Sairiko. She found her sitting in the hallway, back against the wall and expression vacant. "H-hey..."

Sairiko blinked rapidly and snapped to attention, "Oh, Rini-sama. Do you need me?"

"Yeah, uhh, I guess we should probably talk again. You know, about us. I mean, with what we're up against, we should probably get everything figured out, huh?" Rini laughed nervously,

"No." Sairiko said simply, to Rini's surprise.

"No? I... don't understand."

"I overheard-"

"Oh no... H-how much?" She had to imagine that some of what had been said might really mess with Sairiko's head.

"Enough. I can tell there are things I missed, but I heard enough to understand what you're dealing with... I think." Sairiko stood up so she could face Rini properly. "I know we have a bond, and that bond is important, but what Minaka is doing has nothing to do with that." Honestly she wasn't sure she'd ever seen Sairiko look this serious outside of battle. "I'm your sekirei, so how we define 'us' is always going to matter, but I don't want Minaka to be part of defining that. I don't want to... rush, or force you. After we deal with Minaka, then we can worry about that."

"A-are you sure? Everyone says-"

"I'll be strong enough. I... have a goal now. I need to win to come back to you, right? I won't let Minaka stop me and ruin this." And truly, Sairiko looked determined.

"You know, I told my mom that I was scared." Rini bit her lip. "But... I'm not the one fighting, am I? The more I think about it, the more I realize I'm scared for you-"

"And that's why I'm going to win!" Sairiko put her hands on Rini's shoulders. "I won't let you be scared anymore! And then, when there's nothing left to worry about, you can figure out exactly how you feel. It would feel wrong otherwise."

"Heh, look at you being all brave. You probably don't even need me. Compared to you I'm pretty much useless. Might as well go ahead without me right?" With all the mistakes she felt she'd been making, she honestly wasn't sure she was wrong.

"Don't be ridiculous." Sairiko looked deep into her eyes. "I can't use my norito if you're not there."

". . . right." Rini averted her eyes and sighed.

Without warning though, Sairiko pulled her close and wrapped her arms around her. "I... love you, Rini. I think I have for a long time. Thank you for letting me be your sekirei."

Rini was caught off guard and it took a moment before she could will her hands to shakily move up and embrace Sairiko in return. "I-I... love you too." No matter what, that was the truth.

 **. . . 2 Days Later. . .**

Madoka reached down toward his office phone. It was really more of an intercom to reach other employees, but that was besides the point. Before his hand could reach the receiver it began beeping at him. Instead of dialing, he just picked it up. According to the particular light that had lit up, it was Takami.

What could she want?

"Hello-"

" _Madoka! Are you aware of what's going on_?" She sounded... upset.

"You'll have to be more specific." He hoped it was something he was already aware of. If there was seriously another fire to put out he might actually go insane.

" _Well, Madoka, you're the Sekirei Liaison, are you not? The one who deals with sekirei-human relations?"_ Takami asked him. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Y-yeah."

" _Well, Madoka, for the past week or so, I have been doing your job, but I can't cover for you any longer. As the public face of MBI when it comes to sekirei, you need to show your face. There's a small mob forming outside..."_

"Covering for me? Isn't it your company?" Madoka told her. He was no doubt that people, if upset, were upset at MBI, not him specifically.

" _Yes, Madoka. Yes it is. I run MBI, which you work for. And as your_ boss _, I hereby suggest you_ do your job _!"_

"O-of course. Sorry..." He gulped. "Err, when you say a mob-"

" _The media."_

"Dammit." He'd have preferred an actual mob. At least then he could have had Benitsubasa scare them off...

 **. . .**

"Do you know why these sekirei have being going out of control?"

"Is this another incident like before?"

"Do you think this will draw in foreign military forces?"

"Should people be afraid?"

Madoka was sweating. It was an absolute shit-show, and he had no good answers.

"I assure you, we have things under control." If only. "There is no cause for alarm. We have handled every incident so far, and will continue to do so."

"You say that, but with every 'incident' the collateral damage is worse! An entire forest was wiped out!"

"Yes, Madoka, what do you have to say about that?" The last voice was very familiar. He looked down and had to resist the urge to hide under the podium – it was Higa. Strangely, he pushed his way past the crowd and approached the podium Madoka stood behind. "If I may?"

"Uhhh-" Before Madoka could answer, Higa continued on his way. The security force began to move, but Madoka stopped them. Could it really get any worse? "Higa, what are-" But rather than speak to him, Higa just pushed him aside and took the podium for himself.

"Now, listen. You may or may not know who I am, but my company has in recent years begun working with MBI rather than competing. It's no wonder, really. For all MBI's technology, their reputation has taken a long time to repair. An issue I quite frankly did not have. Hence, through my company, I like to think that people have been able to benefit from recent medical advancements rather than turn their head at the MBI name," Higa began. "So let's talk about that problem, shall we? Sekirei are no longer a secret. It is these sekirei that MBI abused and through that abuse caused untold amounts of damage and distress. And yes, MBI has many faces, but only one that mattered. Minaka Hiroto, that is where the bulk of your hate and anger should lie. Or rather, I would have hoped he was forgotten about."

Madoka was stunned. Was Higa... helping? It was certainly true that lately the man had been far more tolerable, but this was... unexpected.

"These incidents we're having now? It is Minaka rearing his head again-"

"But then it _is_ the same as before! History is repeating itself!" The mob of media began to rile itself up again.

"Excuse me!" Higa cleared his throat loudly. "In a way, yes. But we cannot blame MBI at this time. It is _this_ man here who stopped Minaka in the past, and it is the good people at MBI who took their opportunity to depose Minaka as head of the company and do away with him! It is _none_ of them who let that monster out of the dark cell he should have stayed in! Madoka-san's time, and that of the rest of MBI, would be _much_ better spent doing anything but answering your rather inflammatory questions. Instead, why don't you write a strongly worded letter to whichever government official is your favorite and ask them how Minaka got out of prison?" Higa smiled for the cameras, but he was clearly pissed deep down. "Now, if you have any further questions, I, as someone who was involved with the past events regarding sekirei, will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability." He then placed his hand over the microphone before him and turned to Madoka. 'Run.' He mouthed.

Before Madoka could thank him or take two steps, something reached his ears, even over the clamoring crowd below. It sounded almost like explosions, or gunfire, but it was distant. He turned his head and he could see smoke rising above the buildings in the distance. Of course the crowd of camera's and reporters saw it as well.

And it was no mystery where their minds went.

"I tried." Higa shrugged helplessly. There was no saving Madoka now.

"Yeah, you did." But Madoka couldn't deal with _this_ mess now. A new one had just appeared. There was only one thing in that direction that Minaka would be after.

 **. . .**

Madoka jumped out of his car, leaving it parked practically in the middle of the street. There was no time to find parking, and he had a feeling traffic would be avoiding the area like the plague anyway. He was before a secondary MBI facility. It was more of a vault really, one which held sekirei technology.

More importantly, it held the jinki.

There were holes in the walls, some big, some small, and smoke was pouring out of the roof. They hadn't been delicate on their way in. Suddenly a spray of dust and debris spat out of one of the walls – and then another. Soon it was like someone was blasting the wall from the inside out with a machine gun. Madoka had to dive to the ground before he was shredded. The next thing he knew, the wall busted open entirely. When the dust cleared, Benitsubasa crawled out of it.

"Oh... hey, Madoka. You're... wearing a suit?" Benitsubasa tilted her head at him. "I-is that fucking hair gel?"

"It's a long story." Madoka grit his teeth.

"More importantly, what the fuck are you doing here?! It's not safe!" Benitsubasa pushed herself to her feet. At least this time she was intact, if not worse for wear.

"I could say the same to you!"

"Yeah? Well I'd rather they focus on me than anyone else!" Benitsubasa growled.

"My hero." Madoka chuckled. "You know, there is one thing we didn't get a chance to try last time. Something they can't do." He was thinking of course about a norito.

"I like how you thi-" She didn't get a chance to speak. Out of the hole in the wall stepped Hyoushi, hand raised and taking aim. It was clear he didn't care who got caught in the crossfire. Benitsubasa jumped at Madoka, body sparking up with energy in an attempt to take the hit. She held him down and all he could think was that even if he survived, she wouldn't.

He expected to feel her body shake under Hyoushi's barrage – expected to at any moment feel her blood pour over him. He expected his heart to break. None of it came true. Soon, both realized that there was no barrage to weather.

They poked their heads up to see an angry looking Hyoushi, but he wasn't looking at them. A new figure suddenly dropped down between them all.

"Moetatsuka?!" Madoka was surprised but damn happy to see her.

"Nariko sent me ahead of her. I'll deal with this." Moetatsuka crossed her arms.

"Is that so?" Hyoushi didn't back off. "You really have turned your back on us."

"Don't be a fool! The only time I turned my back on anyone was when Minaka messed with my head! I am exactly where I should be, and as I am now you should not dare to stand before me!" They could feel the heat beginning to radiate off of Moetatsuka.

"Wow. Arrogant much?" Benitsubasa muttered.

"Eh, she's a good match for Nariko, really," Madoka quipped.

"Just... wow again."

"Perhaps, but it's just you." Hyoushi didn't seem intimidated. Moments later Sadashi also stepped out of the building. She had a new, much bigger shield strapped to what was left of her forearm. This new shield was different from the piece of shaped scrap metal she'd had before. Minaka had put his stolen goods to use it seemed. Her new shield actually looked mechanical in nature, with four quadrants, and much thicker.

Before the fighting could begin, a car screeched to a halt across the street. It was Rini's.

"I made it!" Rini announced as she stepped out of the car. "Good, it'll be a fair fight then!"

"Yes!" Sairiko stepped out of the passenger door. She then reached back in for her sword, which lay in the back seat. It got stuck. "Um..." She tugged on it, but couldn't get it past the front seat. "R-Rini, how do I-? I-it's stuck."

"Oh, uh, there's a lever. No, on the side of the seat. Not that one. Yeah, pull that one... no the other way." Finally the front seat slid forward to make room. "There you go..." She'd just had to get a coupe.

Sairiko pulled her sword free of the vehicle and walked over to join the battle about to begin.

"Nice entrance." Benitsubasa smirked.

Sairiko glanced back. "If you're going to make fun of me, please do so from a safe distance." She then turned her attention back to her enemies, leaving Benitsubasa with her jaw hanging open.

"Well, you heard the woman. Come on." Madoka took Benitsubasa's arm to lead her away.

"Cocky little..." Benitsubasa grumbled that and a few other choice words under her breath, but went along.

 **. . .**

"I'll take Sadashi. I won't be losing this time," Sairiko said to Moetatsuka.

"Understood. I owe Hyoushi for last time anyway. He won't escape me again." Sairiko nodded. The two sekirei then each split up, getting a safe distance from each other to avoid friendly fire.

Hyoushi struck first, but, after all the distractions, Moetatsuka had been given plenty of time to get "warmed up" and wove a wall of pure heat in front of her, turning his attacks to slag on contact.

"I don't know where your confidence comes from. Whatever strength your ashikabi has given you, it won't be enough to bridge the gap between us." Sadashi stared down Sairiko. "And this time I have plenty of reason to break you."

"If I remember correctly," Sairiko brandished her sword, "there wasn't much of a gap."

Sadashi's lips curled into an angry snarl and she charged forward. Her new shield still had a wicked point on the end. Sairiko swatted the attack aside with her blade and then pushed forward, ramming her forehead into Sadashi's face. As the other sekirei stumbled back, Sairiko swung again. Sadashi just barely raised her shield to block, being forced even farther back from the weight of the blow.

Off to the side, she could see Hyoushi being pushed back as well, Moetatsuka blasting the melted shrapnel of his own projectiles back at him.

"I'm here! Oh good, you're winning, Moetatsuka!" At that moment, Nariko ran onto the scene, finally catching up with her sekirei.

"Yes, please don't get too close," Moetatsuka requested.

Meanwhile, Sadashi was looking increasingly frustrated. Clearly she fully blamed Sairiko for her missing hand and the sizable chunk of forearm that had gone with it. She charged in again and Sairiko pulled back her sword, aiming a stab.

Sadashi was forced to raise her shield to block, sparks flying as the point of the blade raked across its surface. Sairiko had waited until the last second to attack, to make sure she wouldn't miss. Sadashi wouldn't be allowed to slip past like last time.

Sairiko pushed in closer, ramming her shoulder into her opponent, trapping her arm to her chest. She then shoved the hilt of her sword up into Sadashi's chin. With her off hand, she aimed to punch out her dazed opponent, but Sadashi recovered fast enough to catch it with her own, remaining hand. Her grit teeth told the story – Sadashi couldn't hold back Sairiko's strength.

She pulled back and let go, allowing Sairiko's momentum to carry her forward as she slipped around behind her – only to immediately be met by a back-kick. Sairiko turned, bringing her blade down, again forcing Sadashi to block, nearly doubled over and completely off balance.

The two struggled, pushing against one another, but still Sadashi couldn't push her back. Despite this, she wouldn't disengage, instead straining against Sairiko's blade. Sairiko didn't understand why she was being so stubborn. If she was smart, she'd break off again and try a different angle. At this rate she'd just be flattened.

But then she saw a glint of metal out of the corner of her eye.

"Sairiko, watch out!" Rini shouted, but it was too late. Sairiko turned her head just in time for a large, metal object flew into her face. It hit like a truck and threw her flying to the ground. She groaned, feeling blood running down her face from at least three places. She propped herself up and saw that a third had joined the enemy's side. A girl with black hair, red eyes, wearing a black bodysuit much like Saki's. However, unlike Saki, she also had armor in the form of a chest plate, and upon her head was a circlet, but it was thick and wide enough to offer decent protection for her forehead.

She wielded a huge hammer, but it was strangely shaped. It was like three thick, dull ax-blades side-by-side instead of one solid hammer face. Each "blade" extended back and fused into one pointed tail, like a pick. Like Sadashi's new shield, her armor and weapon actually seemed well made.

Had the blades been actually sharp, Sairiko was pretty certain she'd be dead. That said, she was almost entirely certain her nose was shattered from the blunt force.

"K-Koumi? Koumi! Stop it, it's me!" Nariko pleaded, but was barely even spared a glance. Her knees grew weak – her fear had come true.

In Koumi's other hand was a large metal case. She tossed it to Sadashi and then looked over to Hyoushi. "Cover us."

Hyoushi nodded and aimed his hands skyward. In a flash, dozens upon dozens of spherical projectiles shot up high.

"Sairiko, move!" Moetatsuka shouted and then rushed back to Nariko's side. Sairiko quickly understood the problem. Hyoushi wasn't aiming at them. She forced herself to her feet and ran to Rini.

"Wh-what are y-" Rini didn't get to speak as Sairiko pushed her down and then stood over her, sword raised, flat side aimed out. The projectiles rained down, and Sairiko could feel them pelting against her blade. Had it been any smaller, she feared she wouldn't have been able to keep them from hitting Rini behind her.

She looked over at Moetatsuka who had successfully burned away the ones that had threatened her own ashikabi. Even Benitsubasa had been forced to scoop up Madoka and simply run to avoid being hit. Thankfully she was fast.

But so were their enemies. They had all run the second Sairiko and Moetatsuka had been forced on the defensive. Sairiko supposed at least she hadn't lost... to Sadashi. She coughed and spat up blood. Her nose and mouth were practically flooded. That surprise attack had done a number on her.

"S-Sairiko... are you OK?" Rini asked shakily.

"I'm... fine..." Sairiko panted. She was more angry than hurt, honestly. She had a nasty headache, but it would fade. "Here." She held her hand out to help Rini back up. "You should probably worry more about your sister."

"Well, yeah, but my sister isn't spewing blood like a faucet." Rini gulped. "You... sure have a lot of blood."

"I'll find a rag." Sairiko tried to pinch the bridge of her nose, only to be painfully reminded that it had just been broken. ". . ." She looked like she was trying not to cry.

"Be strong." Rini patted her sekirei on the arm, only getting a taught-faced nod in return. She decided it was best to do as Sairiko had suggested. Everyone seemed fine, relatively speaking, except her sister who looked shaken.

She was still on her knees, not having moved since Koumi had appeared. Her face had since gone blank, her gaze was fixed on the ground and an increasingly anxious Moetatsuka seemed unable to snap her out of it.

"Hey, come on, Nariko. It... it'll be OK. I promise." Rini had to say it, for herself just as much as for Nariko. She could barely stomach just the thought of failing to bring all the stolen sekirei home.

"No it won't," Nariko responded, her voice just above a whisper.

"Nariko-"

"No matter what, nothing will ever make this OK!" Nariko snapped, pushing herself to her feet. "You saw her! She barely even noticed I was here, let alone recognized me!" Her body heaved and her eyes glistened with tears. "He's gonna pay..."

"What?"

"First Moetatsuka, then the twins..." Her hands clenched into fists. "They're not his to keep! They're mine! Moetatsuka will make him pay!"

"Y-yes! Of course!" Moetatsuka gulped nervously, snapping to attention.

"Look, Nariko, just calm down. I want to save them as much as you do." Rini placed her hand on Nariko's shoulder, but it was slapped away.

"Don't baby me! I don't need to calm down, I need to find him and make him suffer! The second we know where he is, he's _dead_!" Nariko was on the warpath. She'd always been temperamental, but this was getting out of hand.

"Sheesh, we sure she's not my kid?" Benitsubasa and Madoka walked over as well.

"Nariko..." Madoka sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked at a loss. "OK, just promise me you won't _actually_ kill him."

"I can't be held responsible if Moetatsuka's hand slips..." Nariko glowered.

"Nariko." Moetatsuka pulled her ashikabi close, face first into her chest. "I promised I would bring them back to you, and I will. Please don't let yourself get so upset." Rini could see the twinge of pain in Moetatsuka's eyes as she spoke. Being seen only as Nariko's tool of vengeance and a means to rescue _other_ sekirei couldn't have made her feel good.

"Psst," Rini got Moetatsuka's attention. _'You're still her favorite,'_ she mouthed to her. It took a moment for it to click, but once it did the sekirei's eyes went wide and her face turned bright red.

"Think you can hold it together for a bit?" Madoka asked his younger daughter. Finally they got a nod from Nariko. "Good." He let out a long sigh. "Someone has to be able to..."

"Come on, don't lose it now, dear." Benitsubasa slapped him on the back.

"Ugh, let's go. We all need to talk." The way he said that made Rini nervous. What exactly had been stolen?

 **. . .**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY STOLE THE JINKI!?"

"The fuck is that?!" Nariko was too ignorant to be panicking as hard as Rini.

"OK. OK. But only one set right? I mean-"

"Doesn't matter. It only takes one set to cause some serious damage." Madoka sighed. "From what we can tell, at long range, the jinki will largely only affect sekirei from the same ship, but at short range, in more targeted applications, they're dangerous to all sekirei. Maybe it was for defensive purposes, I don't know. We didn't build them. It honestly doesn't matter what set Minaka took, we need to stop him before he can use them."

"Well unless we know where he is, I don't see what we can do. It's the same as it has been this whole time!" Nariko scoffed, her perpetual anger seeming to have been given yet more fuel to burn.

"About that." Being back at the tower, they were now joined by Avaron. "It's been a long time since Minaka was head of MBI. We've upgraded our equipment quite a bit over the years. Since Sadashi came back into view, I was able to get a better lock on her this time. Our satellites honed in on her biological signature. We eventually lost it, but we believe that's only because she's underground."

"And...?" Rini didn't want to assume anything, but suddenly she felt a spark of hope.

"Underground as in a secret base that we now know the location of?" Nariko seemed plenty happy to assume away.

"Exactly." Avaron nodded. "As soon as Sairiko stops choking on her own blood, I believe we can send you after him."

"Good. Only one last heart attack for me to deal with then." Madoka crossed his arms.

"Aww, come on! We were totally winning that last fight! We'll knock them around a bit, capture Minaka, and bring the sekirei home!" Rini grinned, trying to keep spirits high. They were cutting things close, but this was definitely a big break.

"Well, before you do that, give us a few days. We want to make sure you're prepared," Avaron told them. "I have an idea or two that might be helpful."

"Can we afford to wait? Sairiko will heal pretty quickly," Rini pursed her lips. She didn't like the idea of Minaka having his hands on the jinki for any longer than necessary.

"Yes! I'll be fine!" Sairiko insisted, her voice nasally, as she stood there with a solid inch of gauze and cotton taped to her nose.

"I say we go right now." Nariko, surprise, surprise, was raring to go.

"Regardless of how ready to go you feel, you're outnumbered. One wrong move and those sekirei still have more than enough power to put you down. They could even gang up on one of you and go for your crest," Avaron told them firmly.

"So we need a plan, except we don't know much about where we'll be fighting or what kind of preparations they have. No matter how you look at it, we're winging this," Rini countered with a sigh.

Benitsubasa had been pretty quiet ever since returning to the tower. As the conversation progressed she'd been growing more and more agitated. Finally she snapped. "For fuck's sake, Rini. Shut your mouth and just give us like three days!" Before anyone could question her sudden outburst she stormed out of the room.

"O... K..." Rini swallowed hard. She didn't really have an argument for that one.

"Don't take it personally. She hates all this more than anyone I think." Madoka stared out the doorway Benitsubasa had disappeared through. "I'll talk to her..."

 **. . .**

Rini looked up at a starlit sky. Back home, she'd asked Sairiko to carry her onto the roof.

"So, think we're ready?" she asked her sekirei.

"I think so." Sairiko glanced at her. "I'm... eager to get it over with."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Rini chuckled. She'd almost been kidnapped and everything. The sooner they caught Minaka and got the sekirei back, the better.

"No, I-... yeah..." Sairiko bit her lip. Now Rini really did know what she meant. Once Minaka was dealt with, she'd officially have to sort out her feelings. She felt like such a coward. Sairiko was letting her procrastinate, no matter what reasoning she gave. When it came down to it, it was a simple question of how she felt. No matter what she had to keep herself from pulling away, but that left her with another question – did she even want to?

She'd known Sairiko forever. What was she afraid of?

Sairiko jumped in her skin. She looked down to see Rini's fingers interlacing with hers. When she met her ashikabi's eyes, the other girl smiled and then rolled over, laying her head on Rini's shoulder.

Neither said a word, and neither wanted to. It would have just ruined the moment.

 **. . . 3 Days . . .**

"Time's up, d-" Rini poked her head into her father's office only to find he wasn't there. Well, it wasn't the first time this had happened. She pulled out her phone. _'Where r u?'_ She fired off a quick text.

 _'Engineering. You here?'_

 _'Yep.'_

 _'Good. Hurry over.'_

Rini shrugged but beckoned Sairiko to follow her and headed to the elevators. It was a long ride, considering how fast the elevators were, but soon she was entering the engineering section of the building.

"Ah, there she is!" Rini saw a face she hadn't seen in some time.

"Kouji? Didn't you quit?" Rini's eyes went wide. He'd worked for MBI for a while, but eventually he'd left to do his own thing. Once most of the new sekirei had started getting older and their tuning was done with, reverse-engineering their technology hadn't been as pressing.

"Ah, well, your father said he wanted my help with a project. Needed it done fast!" Kouji grinned. "Heh, even after all these years I can't say no to the man."

"Like a good soldier." Madoka smirked and shook his head. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here early. We have something for Sairiko and Moetatsuka. I guess we'll show you two first." He grabbed something and held it out to Sairiko. "Put this on."

Sairiko took it and frowned. "It's... err... thin. And stretchy..." She didn't seem to like it.

"Oh hell no, I don't care if we're fighting, Sairiko's not dressing like a whore! Half of those old outfits didn't even make sense!" Rini glowered. Those memories of Kaie and her father were coming back again.

"It's just a base layer! There's more to it!" Madoka insisted.

"Ugh." Rini decided to take his word for it. "Fine, go put it on," she told Sairiko who hurried off to find a quiet corner away from prying eyes. A minute later she was back in a tight, black bodysuit that left no curve to the imagination, though the only exposed skin was her face. It had a wavy texture to it, almost like fish scales. Her face was a starkly contrasting scarlet and she looked horribly uncomfortable.

"So, is the fit good?" Kouji asked.

"Y-yes. It's... not uncomfortable. I just... wh-what am I putting over it, please?!" Sairiko pleaded.

"Ah, good. It's actually pretty strong stuff, and breathable as well, so you won't sweat to death-" Kouji began to babble, but Madoka smacked the back of his head to make him focus. "Right." Kouji hurried over to a large metal case that was attached to the wall. It was like a large locker.

He punched in a code and the door popped open. Inside was what could only be armor. It was no suit of knight's armor, but it was armor none-the-less. Thinking back, it looked similar to the plates of armor that had appeared when Sairiko used her norito, but this clearly covered areas that the norito hadn't, like pieces of a puzzle that had until then been missing.

"We looked over Sairiko's imprints and figured we should give her every advantage we could," Madoka said. "Try it out."

The armor was a mix of thin, overlapping plates and thicker _blocks_ of armor that would have weighed down a lesser being. Sairiko probably wouldn't even notice the added weight. The thinner plates were for her midriff and legs, while the heavy plates went over her chest, left arm, shoulder., and feet in the form of boots with shin guards. Her right arm was left bare, but Rini knew that would change if she used her norito. The thick plates were angular with hard edges, keeping in theme with her large blade. The last piece was a thin, plated skirt that hung over her rear, which helped the entire outfit look and feel less awkward.

"How does it feel. Can you move OK?" Rini asked. Sairiko didn't answer right away, looking herself over and twisting around. The armor didn't seem to restrict her movement all that much.

"It feels... right." Sairiko nodded.

"Well, like I said, it came from your imprints. You were meant to wear it. Hopefully it won't be all that relevant, but it should be able to take a pretty nasty hit and keep you intact," Kouji told them.

"So you have armor for Moetatsuka too then?" Rini recalled they'd mentioned both sekirei.

"Not... really. There wasn't any armor in her imprints. She's a different kind of sekirei, after all. We were able to make an outfit for her, one that won't get singed when she goes all out," Kouji told her. That was good at least. Moetatsuka's clothes didn't go up in smoke or anything, she had enough control over her flames to spare her clothing for the most part, but they did get a bit... toasty.

"Can I see?"

"Might as well get them out. Your sister should be here soon." Madoka nodded. Kouji went to another container, soon revealing the outfit.

The color theme was red, white, and gold. The entire outfit was trimmed in gold, with a high collar that would be tight around the neck and went down over the shoulders into long sleeves of white, with intricate red patterns running down it, fittingly much like flames. The middle was covered by what seemed like a corset, they way the material was stiff and laced together.

Farther down was a pure-white skirt that was longer in the back than the front, with red stockings coming up from red and gold boots.

Rini took the top and turned it over, revealing that the back was nothing but strings. From the hips, all the way to the shoulder area was a crisscross pattern of thick, red threads.

"It's a bit... racier." Rini swallowed hard, glad that her own sekirei wouldn't be wearing it. She then sighed, "Nariko's going to love it..." She supposed it was still better than Kaie's outfit.

"Probably." Madoka pursed his lips. Undoubtedly, Moetatsuka would look great and Nariko would swoon over her.

"So this is it, then?" Rini asked. "We're going after him?"

"That's the plan." Madoka let out a stressed sigh. "We have a boat ready. Once Nariko gets here, we'll get you two over to the island."

"Don't be so worried dad, Sairiko would die before she'd let something happen to me. Right?" Rini put on a brave face.

"That's what I'm worried it'll come to." Her assurances did nothing to relieve the tension easily visible on his face. He was momentarily distracted by a vibration from his phone. "She's here..."

No putting it off any longer.

 **. . .**

The relocated to a helicopter pad where they'd be catching a ride to the boat. They could have taken a helicopter all the way there, but figured the boat would be stealthier. They didn't need to draw attention and get shot down by Hyoushi.

"Are you sure-"

"Dad, come on. It's kinda too late for second thoughts now. We have to do this," Rini told her father. "Relax. We'll be home for dinner."

"I hope you have a lot of kids some day. It's only fair that you experience even half the shit I'm going through right now." Madoka shook his head.

"I'll see what I can do." Rini smirked.

"Rini! You're so brave!" Suddenly Rini was accosted by a newcomer who smothered her in a crushing hug.

"G-gah! Masukagami? Wh-" Rini choked out what few words she could muster.

"Hey. I'm here too." As Masukagami released her, Rini saw that Sukaime had also joined them. "We figured we should all show up and give you a proper send-off," she explained.

"It's not like we're going off to war..." Rini rubbed the back of her head.

"Holy fuck, mom!" Nariko's piercing, annoying voice interrupted them. "I don't need to look pretty for fucking Minaka! Back off!" She swatted Kaie away, where the woman had been adjusting her hair.

"I... I know I just..." Kaie's face fell. One could only imagine how helpless she must feel, being forced to send her teenage daughter off to fight their battles.

"Chill! Moetatsuka's like super strong, I'll be fine." Nariko crossed her arms.

"Not even a scratch." Kaie turned to Moetatsuka, a warning tone in her voice. The other sekirei just stiffened up nervously and nodded.

"Speaking of moms... where's mine?" Rini looked around. "You know, the biological one?"

"She's... uhhh..." Madoka cleared his throat. "Don't worry. You'll see her. This isn't easy for her, you know. She thought she'd ended this once already."

"She really hates that you have to do this in her stead." Sukaime frowned. "I can relate."

"So, it's just us going then?" Rini wondered if there was any other reason they were all there to see them off.

"Yes." Avaron was there as well, of course. "Despite all the faith I have in Masukagami, I know we'd just get in the way. If you have to worry about us, you'll be vulnerable, no matter how strong those two are."

"I'll be cheering for you from here, so give it your all!" Masukagami smiled. It was nice to know _someone_ was optimistic. It was a welcome change from her father's constant worrying.

"Tha- . . ." Rini suddenly tilted her head in confusion. "Is that _Katsurou_?"

Sure enough, her brother also joined them, walking over, "Yeah. I _am_ going," he told her.

"You are?" she glanced around in confusion, wondering if he was hiding a sekirei somewhere.

"Uhh, no. No you're not," Madoka told him.

"This isn't up for debate." Katsurou walked over to the helicopter.

"Excuse me?" Madoka was so taken aback it took him a moment to react, moving to grab his arm, but he jerked it away.

"You're not stopping me!"

"Why do you suddenly want to help so bad?" Rini asked. "I mean... how _can_ you help?"

"Last I checked, I have the same power you do," he told them. "I might as well be a part of this!"

"But you _don't_ have a sekirei!" Madoka argued.

"That's fine. Just means we have one boost for each sekirei we do have between us." Katsurou crossed his arms. It was a surprisingly good argument.

". . . you're set on this aren't you?" Madoka's face fell into his palm.

"Just say the word, Madoka. I'll drag his ass home," Sukaime told him.

"No." Madoka shook his head. He placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm proud of you. All of you." He then ruffled the boy's hair. "Keep your sisters safe, huh?"

"Pfft!" Nariko scoffed. "Please, we'll be keeping _him_ safe!"

"Actually, it's more that Sairiko and I will be keeping all of you safe..." Moetatsuka spoke up, earning a withering glare from Nariko. "I mean... um... s-sorry, Nariko-sama..."

"OK..." Rini took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No more standing around then. Let's get this over with."

She was the last one to step onto the helicopter, throwing a glance behind her as she stepped up. It seemed her mother really wasn't going to send her off.

 **. . .**

The helicopter dropped them off at the dock and then they boarded the boat for the remainder of the trip to Minaka's island. The longer the trip went on, the more Rini's anxiety grew. She believed in Sairiko, she really did, but capturing Moetatsuka had been their last real victory. They'd been on a losing streak since then. Sadashi had escaped, albeit injured, and the jinki had been taken, never mind the twins being stolen behind their backs.

On paper, Sairiko should have every advantage; she was winged and they were finally comfortable as a team. Moetatsuka was even there as back-up. Still, Rini couldn't help but worry.

She gripped the boats railing, trying to keep her breathing even. She didn't want to psych out Sairiko by letting her fears show.

She jumped as she felt a hand slide over hers, "It'll be OK, Rini."

"Wh-" Rini swallowed hard as Sairiko smiled at her. "I-I'm not... worried..." She pouted, not wanting to lie to her sekirei's face. "How'd you even know?"

"I could just tell," the other girl admitted.

"I wasn't doubting you! I swear, I j-"

"I know."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Rini raised an eyebrow. She thought Sukaime was supposed to be the mind-reader.

"Umm... what's for dinner?" Sairiko tilted her head after a moment of thought. Rini giggled.

"After this? Whatever you want," Rini told her, watching the girl's eyes light up.

"Is that it?" Sairiko squinted into the distance.

"I... think so, yeah."

Coming into view was the island in question. The far side was lush with untamed vegetation, but the shore they were headed to was nothing but sand, rocks, and tall cliffs. The satellites were precise – wherever Minaka's hideout was, it was on that rocky shore.

Soon enough, the boat pulled up as close as possible and the five of them departed in motorized raft to land on the island.

"So... do we start turning over rocks?" Katsurou sighed, kicking a small rock to punctuate his point. There was no obvious sign of an entrance. What Minaka lacked in morals, he made up for in being crafty.

"Regretting coming? Too much time away from your games?" Nariko taunted him. "Screw it, if we can't find it soon, just start blasting! Between Moetatsuka and Sairiko we can dig up his little base no matter where he hid it!"

"Or we cause a collapse and kill the sekirei we came to save," Katsurou shot back deadpan. "Or have you given up on them?"

Nariko grit her teeth angrily, but conceded. Katsurou had a point after all. "Ugh! Just start looki-" Her eyes shot wide when with no warning Hyoushi stepped into view, coming from behind a large rock that sat against the cliff face before them.

"No need to be so drastic. The entrance is here." Hyoushi lifted an arm and pointed at Rini. "You. You can enter. The others stay."

"Like you have a say in the matter!" Nariko snapped.

"She's not wrong. You alone can't stop us!" Rini agreed with her sister.

"Argue and the entrance seals. Even if you could blast your way in without crushing everyone inside, by the time you forced your way in they'd be gone. Minaka-sama wasn't unprepared for this," Hyoushi told them. "Be glad he's letting any of you enter."

"It's obviously a trap! You'd be outnumbered!" Katsurou told her.

"Then follow me when you can." Rini sighed. She wasn't letting them slip away. Trap or no, she trusted Sairiko to power her way through if needed. She stepped forward, walking past Hyoushi with Sairiko at her side. Sure enough, there was an opening in the cliff behind the boulder.

It was a tight fit, but it soon widened and she saw signs of human intervention in the shape of the tunnel. It wasn't too long, and at the end it opened up into a huge, dimly lit cavern.

"Ah! Madoka's first-born daughter. Welcome!" A voice rang out over hidden speakers, echoing off the walls loudly. Minaka, no doubt. "It's been so long since I've been able to play a game with sekirei. I'm glad you could come and let me have one final hurrah!"

"I'm not here for games, Minaka! I'm taking the sekirei home!" Rini shouted back. He was really calling it a game. The man had a one-track mind, apparently. It made her sick.

"Oh, but that's where we have a problem. They don't want to go with you! Do you, girls?" The man's chuckle reverberated off the walls as two figures slipped into view, out of the shadows at the edges of the cavern.

Koumi, now with Tetsuko by her side. However, strangely, neither had arms or armor at hand.

"H-hey, guys. Look, I know he's messed with your heads, but please... you remember me, right? O-or Nariko? You guys love Nariko, a-and she's right outside so-" Rini was cut short, a gasp escaping her as Tetsuko's body shone with light and then she flew into particles, converging on Koumi. Within moments, Koumi had her armor and hammer back. Tetsuko WAS her weapon.

It seemed she wasn't going to talk.

". . ." Rini hung her head. "Do what you have to, Sairiko."

"I won't terminate them, don't worry." Sairiko stepped forward, blade brandished.

It began. Both parties rushed at each other, and weapons clashed. Rini felt it in her teeth, the power they collided with was monstrous. However, Sairiko proved superior. With an extra burst of effort, she shoved the hammer aside, opening Koumi up for an attack. Sairiko swung, turning the blade around so as not to slice her in half. However, Koumi shone this time.

Tetsuko popped back into reality, now with armor on her arms and legs while Koumi vanished. It seemed Koumi could also become a weapon, in this case a large, four bladed shuriken. Sairiko's attack swung through naught but air as Tetsuko twisted and threw the shuriken without her feet even touching the ground.

Sairiko leaned to the side, letting it fly by harmlessly. However, in a flash, even with distance between them, the two switched again. Sairiko had to spin around and block as Koumi swung the massive hammer into her. It struck only the flat of her blade, but her feet still slid back a considerable distance.

Sairiko without hesitating threw her own, massive sword at Koumi. Koumi hopped back, and the blade stuck into the rock before her. Sairiko wasn't far behind, jumping and grabbing the blade's handle, swinging forward to kick, aiming to plant both feet into Koumi's chest. However, the two switched and Tetsuko threw the shuriken straight up into the air.

Sairiko slid to a halt, having missed. The shuriken bounced off the stony surface of the ceiling and they switched again, Koumi bringing her hammer down from above, slamming Sairiko into the ground.

Koumi stepped on the side of Sairiko's face, pinning her as she swung, the hammer crashing into her ribs. She then lifted her foot and swung again, this time sending Sairiko flying back to Rini, her body rolling to a stop at her feet.

"Sairiko!" Rini knelt down, but Sairiko was already pushing herself up. Her lips were bloody, but she still looked determined.

"I-it's OK. I can do this... just a minor setback." Sairiko staggered back up onto two legs.

"No. We end this now!" Rini stopped her, grabbing Sairiko's face.

"Wh-" Rini silenced her sekirei with her lips, causing the girl's wings to burst forth.

"Just remember we want them alive." Rini said, her lips still hovering above Sairiko's as she whispered to her. "You know what to do."

Sairiko gulped and nodded, red-faced from the sudden kiss.

She turned and faced Koumi who looked apprehensive now. "My blade holds strong my pledge! Overwhelm the opposition before my ashikabi!" However, Sairiko had to reclaim her sword before she could do anything more. She charged forward and Koumi swung, trying to hold her at bay, but at that moment, nothing could stop Sairiko.

She jumped, clear over Koumi and landed by her sword, ripping it out of the cavern floor.

"BLADE FUSION! DREADNOUGHT!" Now it was Sairiko's turn to shine – literally. When the light faded, once more her blade had become one with her armor, covering her right arm. With the new armor supplied by Kouji, Sairiko's appearance truly did befit her norito's name.

She was a walking weapon who radiated power.

Once more, the two clashed, but this time it wasn't even a contest. Sairiko _swatted_ the hammer from Koumi's grasp. This time, the two didn't switch. Tetsuko popped back into reality, having been knocked clean back into her human-shaped form.

Koumi, now alone and unarmed, fled, rushing to Tetsuko's side.

"Give up, you can't match me as you a-"

"Well! It seems we'll have to make this more interesting!" Minaka's voice cut Sairiko off.

Soon they realized what he meant. From the opposite end of the cavern, Sadashi appeared. Koumi pulled Tetsuko to her feet and the two made their way to Sadashi's side.

"Now, as I'm sure you know, Sekirei are quite malleable. Programmable if you will," Minaka told them. Rini grit her teeth. What was he talking about?

"What have you done, Minaka?" Rini shouted into the cavern.

"Just watch!" he spoke gleefully.

Rini's jaw nearly hit the floor. The cavern lit up, but not from any lamp. Koumi and Tetsuko's wings spread without warning.

"As you can see, I've bypassed the normal requirements! A norito at the flick of a switch!" Minaka laughed over the loudspeakers.

"Oh crap." Rini swallowed hard. She could only watch as the twins chanted and their forms simultaneously turned to light, jumping not to each other, but to Sadashi. Now their opponent was just as armed and armored as Sairiko.

Could they still win?

 **. . .**

Moetatsuka was getting frustrated. She'd _thought_ beating Hyoushi would be easy. However, his ability to attack from multiple angles, and _any_ angle, at the same time was more dangerous than she'd realized. Quite frankly she couldn't output enough power to nullify all his attacks at once.

She was always at risk of being hit, which meant she had to focus so much on defense that she couldn't fight back! The few attacks she did launch were sloppy and desperate, and thus easy to dodge.

She was collecting cuts and bruises while Hyoushi was unscathed. Apparently almost losing to her before had caused him to set his mind to figuring out how to beat her. She was afraid he'd succeeded.

He launched three large clusters of shots at her, and when they got close they "exploded" peppering her with steel. She could only cross her arms in front of her vitals and attempt to melt away as many as she could.

Just when she thought it was over, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her knees. She began to fall, but another barrage blasted her from head-on. Her focus was destroyed – she went down.

"Moetatsuka! Come on, don't give up!" Nariko shouted from the sidelines.

"I-I'm not..." Moetatsuka struggled to speak. She was quickly getting exhausted and was short of breath. "But-" She tried to push herself up, but another shot struck her hand and she collapsed once more. The next went for her head, and it was all she could do to burn it down before it penetrated her skull.

"Moetatsuka!" Nariko sounded panicked. "I..." Moetatsuka turned her head to she Nariko take a step back. Suddenly she just grabbed Katsurou's wrist and ran, dragging him away with her.

She felt the strength drain from her body. Her ashikabi had fled. Perhaps it was for the best, though. They could take the raft to a safe distance. Maybe Sairiko could win all on her own and then at least they'd all be safe.

She didn't care about her own life – just so long as Nariko was safe. Though, even if she didn't care... she'd hoped Nariko did.

"OK!" Nariko's voice reached her ears once more. What? "It's all clear! Just blow him up!" Nariko shouted to her.

Moetatsuka glanced back once more and saw that Nariko had fled to a distance and found a large rock to hide behind. She then turned her gaze back to Hyoushi.

Both sekirei came to the same realization. With Nariko and Katsurou at a safe distance, Moetatsuka didn't have to worry about collateral damage anymore.

As Hyoushi tried to aim his next attack, Moetatsuka dug her fingertips into the ground beneath her, red-hot cracks spreading like roots from them. The ground erupted in a pillar of blazing shrapnel, and she rose with it. Hyoushi was forced to shield himself from the blast, and when he raised his eyes a burning maelstrom stood before him.

More. Hotter and hotter. She felt so _free_. There were no trees on that rocky shore for her to worry about. She could just _do_.

Hyoushi summoned a veritable constellation of steel shots, but within moments they began to glow red and got sucked into the storm that now swirled around Moetatsuka. It was like standing before the sun. Everything would burn and succumb to her will.

And then it exploded. The ground bucked and the whole island must have shook. Flames roared and spread hungrily in all directions before vanishing just as soon as they'd flared up.

Nariko and Katsurou both huddled behind the rock they'd found, hands over their ears. Finally Nariko was brave enough to poke her head out. She saw Moetatsuka standing in the middle of a sizable crater than had been blasted into the very rock of the island. Hyoushi was back against the cliff face, head drooped and unconscious, singed from the blast and smoke rising from his body.

"What the hell was that?" Nariko shouted. "I thought you couldn't make fire! What the hell was there to burn?" Moetatsuka controlled heat, she couldn't just spit fire out of nowhere, and looking around it was all sand and stones.

Moetatsuka just smirked, "The oxygen in the air."

Nariko swallowed hard – her sekirei was kind of scary.

 **. . .**

Rini's teeth vibrated as the whole island shook. She was going to lose her mind at this rate. The clash of titans taking place before her had her on the verge of a panic attack. She was pretty sure that last tremor had come from outside, so clearly Moetatsuka was in battle as well.

Part of her was second guessing their decision to come to the island, but she knew there hadn't been any other choice.

It was then that she noticed something was wrong with Sairiko. She seemed... sluggish. Each time they clashed, one would inevitably shove the other away, and each time Sairiko seemed to be slower and slower to press her next attack.

Sadashi swung her hammer and with only one hand to wield it she still brought it down with crushing force, even considering her opponent. Sairiko lifted her blade to block and then shoved the weapon to the side. However, Sadashi still had her shield, leaving no opening for Sairiko to exploit.

Sadashi blocked and shoved Sairiko back, forcing her again on the defensive. This time, Sadashi seemed to take total control. She swung viciously, again and again, crashing down on Sairiko like a tidal wave.

Finally Sairiko stumbled back, creating some distance in an attempt to catch her breath – but she couldn't. She fell to her knees and with a dull flash her norito fizzled out, her sword clattering to the ground.

"Oh... no..." Rini's eyes widened in horror. At best it had been an even fight _with_ Sairiko's norito.

Sairiko scrambled to retrieve her weapon now that it was no longer physically attached to her body, but even as she lifted it, Sadashi swatted it from her grasp, and then cracked the hammer across her jaw, blood flying from her mouth as she spun around. Sadashi then kicked her to the ground and spun the hammer around, bringing the wicked, rear spike to bear.

Rini could only hyperventilate in total panic as she watched, helpless. She didn't want to watch, but she couldn't look away. She felt that averting her eyes would be to betray her sekirei, but this was the last thing she wanted to see.

"OK! The cavalry's here- OH SHIT! 'TATSUKA!" The sudden shout drew Sadashi's gaze from Sairiko just in time for a barrage of red-hot shards to crash into her and explode. It staggered her, but the armor from the twins' norito seemed to deflect most of the damage. "J-just in time..." Indeed, Nariko and Moetatsuka had finally made it.

"I'll handle this." Moetatsuka super-heated the ground at her feet, pulling apart the very stone to create her weapons. She wove them around her and then shot the the air like a spear, just as she had against Saki.

"Wait!" Rini was too late. There was no way Moetatsuka could win right now. She was painfully correct. Moetatsuka simply bounced off of Sadashi's shield, being flung back like a mere annoyance. She was wide open for Sadashi's counter attack, the hammer slamming into her rib-cage and sending her back to lay prone by Sairiko.

"N-no way! Just like that?" Nariko's jaw dropped. "M-Moetatsuka! Get up, dammit!"

Moetatsuka struggled, but it was all she could do to lift her head; a head she might not have for much longer. The shuriken, now affixed to the shield, began spinning and she flung it, the weapon arcing through the air on course for Moetatsuka's neck.

Rini couldn't see a way out this time. It had just been the two sekirei. There was no rescue coming.

How had it gone so far downhill so quickly?

She flinched. Her eyes shut. Any moment and her sister's anguished cry would no doubt hit her. And then what? Would her own follow when Sairiko's turn came?

"Ah? What's this?" Instead, Nariko was silent and instead Minaka's voice once more echoed through the cavern.

Rini cracked her eyes open to then have her mouth fall open. "MOM!?"

Standing defiantly before their two fallen sekirei was none other than her mother, Benitsubasa, the shuriken captured tightly in her grasp, and for some reason her clothes and hair dripping with water.

"Rini. The fuck?"

* * *

 **SELF-REFERENTIAL CLIFFHANGER! Eh, it's mostly to break up the chapters and give you guys a break. Was approaching my trademarked "Epic Length" so I was like "snip." Ugh, it's been so long I'm all nervous I'm forgetting something...**

 **So why _did_ this take so long? Well, instead of telling you my _life story,_ I'll give you the cliff notes. **

**Real life drama, followed by almost getting kicked out of my house, followed by me buying almost every Pokemon game for the 3DS, followed by me drastically over-correcting and getting three jobs. One of which I no longer have, 'cause fuck 'em.**

 **Then the lovely DMacIntosh sent me a PM about how much he liked Violent Hearts and was like "OK, back to work." Kinda like what SpecialRelativity did for, well, Violent Hearts back in the day.**

 **This is why you gotta support your authors, guys; we're fickle, lazy fucks when we don't have the proper motivation. Well, at least I am.**

 **So, um... happy holidays?**

 **Til' next time!**


	5. Better

**New year, new chapter!**

* * *

 **Better**

Without even looking back at her daughter, Benitsubasa spoke, "I thought you said you had this!"

"I-I don't... how did you get here?" Rini honestly thought she might be hallucinating.

"I walked."

"We're on an island!"

"And?"

"Did... did you run on water?" Rini asked, flabbergasted.

"Took me a few tries to get it right." Benitsubasa tossed the shuriken aside, only to have it flicker and reappear once more affixed to Sadashi's shield.

"Well, I'm glad you're here, Benitsubasa," Minaka spoke up over the speakers again. "I want you to witness my victory after all these years. This is the climactic battle, after all. It does feel right having you present."

"What exactly makes you think you're going to beat me this time?" Benitsubasa grit her teeth.

"Oh, Benitsubasa, what you don't seem to understand is that as strong as you were before, you're quite outmatched here. There will be no miracle you can pull off to win this time."

Benitsubasa's lips curled into a snarl, "And what you don't understand is just how badly you fucked up when you went after my daughter!" Her hands clenched into fists. "Did you really think there was any length I wouldn't go to to make you pay for that!?" The cavern suddenly lit up with an eerie, red light. "To make me spend even one day away from him... no... even one second would have been too long..."

"M-mom... wh-what did you do?" Rini swallowed hard. She could _feel_ her mother's rage reverberating off the walls. The whole island was shaking.

"I AM **DONE** WITH YOU!" Benitsubasa roared. "THERE IS NO HOLE DEEP ENOUGH TO THROW YOU IN THIS TIME!"

 **. . . 3 Days Ago . . .**

"So... that was oddly specific. Why three days?" Madoka found his wife biting her nails in his office.

"I dunno. Sounds about right I guess." Benitsubasa looked extremely worked up. Anxiety was coming off of her in waves.

"Do you... have an idea?" he asked her. He was up for anything at that point.

"You're gonna hate it. _I_ hate it." She let her hand fall to her side and met his eyes.

"OK. Hit me."

"Terminate me, sever our link, revive me, and undo Minaka's tuning. Make me like Sairiko and Moetatsuka," Benitsubasa blurted out her plan.

OK, he wasn't sure he was up for _that._ "Well... you're right."

"Yeah?"

"I hate it."

"This is our children we're throwing into the fire, Madoka! I can't just sit here and do nothing when I know we have another option!"

"Yeah, but this is crazy! And Sairiko and Moetatsuka should be able to handle this, so-"

"So let's gamble with the lives of our daughters?"

"Ugh..." Madoka hung his head. When she put it that way...

"My father and Minato should be able to do the job just fine. It won't kill me." Madoka raised an eyebrow at that. "Termination is not the same as dying!"

". . . You're not asking my permission, are you?" Madoka sighed.

"No."

"Dammit..." He grabbed her and held her close. "You know I'm gonna cry, right? A lot?"

". . ."

"Benitsubasa?"

"Sh-shut up." She already was.

 **. . . Present. . .**

"One chance, girl." Benitsubasa glared at Sadashi. "Back off." She didn't budge. Fine then. Benitsubasa vanished from the view of normal eyes, but she could tell that Sadashi could still see her.

The rogue sekirei lifted her weapon, but Benitsubasa skidded to a sudden halt and held her arms out, palms aimed at her opponent, "SHREDDER!" The blast was just enough to stun the other sekirei for a moment. Benitsubasa then sprung up and kicked Sadashi's weapon hand back, landing with her back to Sadashi and ramming her elbow into her gut. Finally, she spun back around and used the momentum for a full force punch that send Sadashi sliding back.

Sadashi dug the clawed end of her hammer into the ground to halt herself, grimacing from the blow she'd taken. She then flung the shuriken at Benitsubasa, but the veteran sekirei leaned out of the way, already making to close the gap.

Benitsubasa halted when suddenly Sadashi vanished, and the next thing she knew she felt a tremendous impact hitting her spine. She was flung face-first into the cavern wall, falling to the ground clutching her aching nose.

"Ugh... guh... holy... crap..." Benitsubasa shakily rose to her feet. Clearly, she couldn't afford mistakes if they were going to be punished that viciously. Sadashi hit _hard_.

"Mom, be careful! Minaka somehow activated the twins' noritos and they're making her stronger!" Rini called out.

"Fucking _now_ you tell me?" Benitsubasa threw a scathing glare her daughter's way.

"You didn't give me a chance to before!" Rini shot back just as hotly. "Also they can teleport to each-other!"

". . . awesome. . ." Benitsubasa sucked in a deep breath. She had to end this fast.

She sprung back, feet landing against the wall before she shot off like a rocket. Sadashi raised her shield, but Benitsubasa used it as a landing pad. She grabbed the upper edge and pulled herself up, reaching over it and cracking her fist across Sadashi's jaw, stunning her.

She then dropped down and swept Sadashi's legs, and next twisted and shot her other leg out, sending the girl tumbling before she even hit the ground. As she flipped back to her feet, she caught a glimpse of her children and their sekreis' astonished faces.

Even she was surprised she was doing so well. Despite her unlocked power she was at a disadvantage, but, just like with Saki in the past, experience was making the difference.

Sadashi rose and threw the shuriken again, but Benitsubasa readied herself to knock it away rather than dodge so she couldn't be surprised from behind again. Sadashi must have realized this and just before the shuriken impacted, Sadashi warped to it, closing in instantly with her hammer swinging away.

Benitsubasa raised both hands and caught it, halting the blow. She could see the concern in Sadashi's eyes. She clearly hadn't expected Benitsubasa to catch the attack and stop it with brute force.

She'd clearly never seen her fight.

Sadashi pulled back her shield arm and then jabbed it at Benitsubasa, forcing her to pull one hand away to catch it as well. Her hands crackled with energy, allowing her to grab the pointed end of the shield without slicing her hands apart.

It became a shoving match, both sekirei grunting with effort as each tried to overpower the other. Dust kicked up and flew away as Benitsubasa brought out more and more power. She flung both hammer and shield aside, opening up Sadashi's guard. It was easier than shoving her away, and kept her nicely within striking range.

She rammed both palms into Sadashi's gut, but her armor kept it from being a crippling blow. The girl slid back and grit her teeth, snarling angrily. She slammed her hammer into the ground, sparks and stone flying. It seemed Benitsubasa's attack had mostly just pissed her off.

"Hey, if she's using a nortio, shouldn't it have worn off by now? She already had it on when I got here!" Benitsubasa took the moment to shout at her daughter.

"I-I don't know!" Rini had no answers to give her mother.

At that moment, Minaka's mocking laughter echoed out from the hidden speakers, "Noticed that, did you? Well the same machines that I can use to activate their noritos also supply a steady stream of energy to sustain it as long as I wish!"

"WHAT?!" Benitsubasa's jaw dropped. She'd secretly been hoping to just wait the norito out...

"But that could hurt them!" Rini couldn't imagine forcing their norito's to continue was healthy for the girls.

"Well, if you're worried, I'll gladly accept your unconditional surrender!" Minaka chuckled. "Any takers?"

"Fine then." Benitsubasa cracked her neck. "Sorry kids, but I can't afford to play nice with you any more." Rini swallowed hard and bit her lip. They were never going to get out of this without hurting the stolen sekirei, but... she just hoped her mother could leave them alive.

"Don't talk like you can match me!" Sadashi brandished her hammer.

Benitsubasa didn't answer. She took a deep breath and set her feet. Energy flared up all around her, but then burned down like a fuse. There was a moment of calm and then she shot forward. Before Sadashi could even move, Benitsubasa's left fist was planted in her gut.

"You're cocky. You don't even know how to use all that power you have." Benitsubasa twisted her fist, digging it into Sadashi's rib-cage. Sadashi gagged and choked, but lifted her hammer to bring it down. Benitsubasa turned, lifting her right fist and met the weapon head-on.

There was a crack – and it wasn't bone.

Testuko and Koumi flashed back into existence, dropping to the ground, their armored forms giving way under Benitsubasa's might.

Sadashi could only stand there, baffled and disarmed except for her shield.

"It's over." Benitsubasa lifted her hand, letting out a powerful kiai and blasting Sadashi off her feet. "Stay down."

Clapping could be heard over the speakers. "Oh, well done! Well done indeed! I really appreciate your effort, Benitsubasa. Really, I do. I think it adds to the drama! However, as I think your daughter could tell you, this is hardly over!"

"The fuck is he on about?" Benitsubasa glanced at her daughter.

Rini didn't get a chance to answer. Shaky as she was, Sadashi ignored Benitsubasa's order and rose to her feet. Her wings spread.

"My shield restrains my power. Unleash my fury and hew all opposition! A promise of the vanguard!" Her shield opened up, bright green lights pouring from its core. A handle extended from the top and Sadashi pulled it free. Her shield seemed to explode into shards, but they flew back to her, extending out from the handle into a blade large enough to rival Sairiko's. "MONARCH'S BLADE!"

It was a black blade with glowing, green fissures running down its length. It was thinner than Sairiko's, but probably half a foot longer.

Rini felt a pressure in the air, and her head began to throb slightly. The raw power coming from Sadashi actually hurt.

"Well... this sucks..." Benitsubasa swallowed hard. They were running out of options. She'd pushed herself to her limit to overpower the twin's norito. She didn't think she could do that again – Sadashi was a much stronger sekirei. There was only one other thing she could try, but she really wasn't supposed to.

 **. . . 1 Day Ago . . .**

"Benitsubasa, one last thing," Minato told her. "Drawing from your core... you really won't be able to do that anymore. This new tuning has you already back to your full power, so there isn't much more to draw from it. If you tried, the best case scenario is nothing would happen... or..."

"Or what?" Benitsubasa frowned impatiently. "Just spit it out."

"Well, perhaps it would work, but chances are your core would completely shut down afterward. For good. I don't think even Kouten could bring you back."

"Oh..." Benitsubasa swallowed hard. That wasn't good.

"Or..."

"You're killing me here."

"Rather than just quietly shut down... you might have a literal meltdown."

"Now you're killing _me_." Madoka looked pale. "So what, she'd go nuclear?"

"E-effectively." Minato cleared his throat nervously. "It would seem the repeated tuning and alterations that have been made to you have left your core rather... unstable. Even just regular combat may strain it if you push yourself too hard."

"P-p-please don't explode, Beni-chan!" Musubi begged, looking at her wits end. She'd been the one to terminate Benitsubasa for the procedure, so she was upset enough as it was.

"I'll do my best..." Benitsubasa groaned.

 **. . . Present . . .**

So... hopefully she wouldn't go nuclear.

"Kids, listen." Benitsubasa took a deep breath and straightened up. "You've made me real proud here, you know?" She chuckled. Heroic speeches weren't really her thing, but these were her children, so fuck it. "But Minaka is my responsibility, so get out of here. I don't know if I can really do this, so you might need to come back for a round two, but for now please just leave this to me."

"M-mom, what are you talking about?" The panic creeping into Rini's voice physically hurt her – a horrible tightness in her chest that made it hard to breathe. Both of them new deep down that Benitsubasa was trying to say goodbye, even if she couldn't bring herself to actually say it.

"Come on, Rini. Don't make me spell it out for you..." Benitsubasa clenched her fists. Sadashi wasn't going to be patient for much longer.

"Look, I don't know what you're planning, but there has to be another way!"

"Y-yes, I... I can still..." Sairiko pushed herself to her feet, but her legs shook and her knees were nearly knocking together as they threatened to buckled beneath her.

"Enough!" Benitsubasa snapped. "I'm your mother and you'll listen to me!" Her signature red aura flared up, her crest beginning to glow. "This might be it for me, but it _won't_ be for you, got it? Now get clear!"

Maybe Minato had been wrong, maybe she could handle it. She'd always been tough, always been able to get back up no matter how hard she'd been beaten down. It wasn't like she wanted to shut down forever.

She could feel it though. It wasn't like it had been in the past. All at once it felt like she'd been running for days. She might not even get a chance to fight. She might not even be worth a distraction so the kids could run...

"COME ON!" Her aura flared up even higher as she refused to give it up that quickly.

"Oh stop being so dramatic, did you forget _we_ still have something left?" And just like that Benitsubasa snapped out of it, aura dying away. The sudden tension on Sadashi's face prompted her to look over her shoulder to see Moetatsuka with her wings spread and glowing a fiery red-orange, like hot, metal shards.

"It was a nice speech, though." Katsurou shrugged. Rini just hung her head and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Seriously, _you_ just leave this to Moetatsuka. It'll be over in a second!" Nariko grinned. "Get her!"

Moetatsuka nodded, "My burning heart keeps the passion of my pledge alive! Burn clear the path before my ashikabi! Ascendant Ember!" She held out her arm, and opened her hand, a small cinder falling to the ground at her feet. It flared up, burning a spiral pattern into the ground beneath her. Then, with a sudden flash, a pillar of flame shot up, engulfing Moetatsuka.

"Um... was that supposed to happen?" Benitsubasa's eyes went wide. She'd really been hoping she wouldn't have to explode herself after all.

"I-" Nariko looked concerned as well for a second, but then the flames flew away and Moetatsuka stood there – transformed. Bright, oily flames clung to her skin and her hair seemed to have become a sea of white-hot flames, burning like a lit fuse.

"It won't matter how long your norito lasts." Moetatsuka stared down Sadashi. She then angled her head back toward the rest of them. "Please stand back, this is going to be dangerous."

Interestingly, the pain Rini had been feeling seemed to subside. Even with the power Moetatsuka radiated, she seemed to serve more like a buffer against Sadashi's murderous intent. Now, all they could do was listen. They got as far back as they could and soon the battle began – or rather resumed.

Sadashi lifted her blade swinging to decapitate Moetatsuka, but the burning girl slid past the tip of the sword and closed in, shooting her palm toward Sadashi's stomach. Sadashi brought her shield forth, now little more than a buckler, to block, but the explosive force of Moetatsuka's strike still pushed her back. However, this left Moetatsuka still in range of Sadashi's massive blade, which was now swinging down to cleave her shoulder to hip.

Moetatsuka caught it. Her left hand glowed a hot white and cracks spread down the length of the blade as the metal began to turn red from the intense heat. Sadashi growled angrily, just trying to push harder, but Moetatsuka wouldn't budge. Then, suddenly, the blade exploded, Moetatsuka crushing it in her grip and blasting it to pieces. Sadashi, astonished, stumbled back and Moetatsuka moved in for the kill.

At the last second, Sadashi's face twisted with rage and she rammed the bladeless hilt of her weapon into Moetatsuka's stomach. In a moment of horror, the blade reforged itself, extending straight through Moetatsuka's stomach and bursting out her back.

"NOOOOO-" Nariko fell to her knees, staring at her impaled sekirei, tears already bursting from her eyes. Mid anguished scream, they watched as Moetatsuka burst into a swirl of fire and seemed to shoot through Sadashi, reappearing behind her, fully intact. "-OOO... oh?" Nariko blinked her tears away, trying to process what had just happened.

"Did she just... how did..." Rini was just as surprised.

"Well, obviously she can turn her body into pure flames to avoid attacks." Benitsubasa crossed her arms calmly, trying to play it cool and ignore the beads of sweat rolling down her face that had nothing to do with the heat of the flames. "I was really hoping she would end this quickly though."

"Well, yeah." Rini glanced at her mother.

"It's not just because I want this to be over. I'm... kinda worried about Moetatsuka's power. I looked up your kids' sekirei to try and see what kind of chance you guys had... and... well..."

"What? What's wrong with my Moetatsuka?" Nariko asked, her expression fraught with conflicting emotions.

"She's basically a living scorched earth policy. If she loses control or overdoes it... I'm pretty sure she could obliterate this whole island. Like, literally just another patch of water in the ocean."

"Cool!" Nariko grinned, eyes sparkling with awe.

"Nariko." Benitsubasa glared. "We are _ON_ the island!"

The girl's smile vanished instantly, ". . . right."

"In other words we're effectively standing ten feet away from an armed nuke," Katsurou grimaced. "I am so done with today."

For a moment, Moetatsuka's newly revealed ability had given Sadashi pause, but as the fight continued it became apparent that all she could do was dodge. Whenever she used it to avoid an attack, she was unable to fight back. Though she effectively turned to flames, Sadashi was too resilient to be hurt by them.

Sadashi seemed fully aware of this fact and had increased her tempo, pushing Moetatsuka onto the defensive. Even with only one arm and such a large weapon, Sadashi's ability to attack relentlessly was terrifying. Moetatsuka caught the blade once more on Sadashi's next swing, but with an angry roar, Sadashi continued the swing, sparks flying as she tore the blade from Moetatsuka's burning grasp. Her momentum continued, spinning herself around and slamming her shield into Moetatsuka's face, throwing her to the cavern floor.

"Is she getting stronger?" Nariko gulped, watching Sadashi begin to take back ground.

"It's like I said, she didn't know how to use her powers... but she's learning." Benitsubasa grit her teeth nervously.

Sadashi swung her blade down at Moetatsuka, and the floored sekirei threw her arms up like a soon-to-be-victim in a slasher film. Before the blade could connect, though, a stream of flames burst forth from her palms, crashing into the sword and pushing it back. The blast was too intense for Sadashi to fight through and she was pushed away, allowing the stream of flames to roar past her, careening into the cavern ceiling and blowing the stone apart in a shower of super-heated debris.

"SHIT! Sairiko!" Benitsubasa shouted. If they didn't work fast, Rini and the others would be crushed by the collapse. With no time to see if the injured sekirei could rise to the occasion, Benitsubasa set about punching her way through the falling rocks before they could crush her kids. Thankfully, judging by the sound of metal on rock, it seemed that the crisis had been enough impetus to push Sairiko back into motion as well.

"Geez, you weren't kidding..." Rini swallowed hard, staring at the gaping hole in the ceiling that sunlight was now streaming through. Moetatsuka had just casually blasted her way through at least fifteen feet of solid rock – possibly more.

Moetatsuka pressed her right palm to the floor and let loose another blast, propelling her up to land on her other hand and spinning her foot into the side of Sadashi's head to land an explosive kick that sent the rogue sekirei into the cavern wall, leaving her in a crater.

A hot wind began to blow and Rini realized that Moetatsuka was heating herself up further. She could only swallow hard and hope she wasn't planning anything that would incinerate them all. Sadashi pulled herself back to her feet and rushed back into the fray, seeming to have only been momentarily inconvenienced by the blow she'd taken.

Moetatsuka phased through the incoming sword swing, reforming behind her opponent. Sadashi predicted and turned, sword at the ready, but Moetatsuka had ducked low. The sword passed just over her head and she sprang back up, glowing fist careening into Sadashi's jaw. The force of the blow rocketed Sadashi up and out of the cavern through the hole in the ceiling. Moetatsuka was immediately in pursuit, leaping clear out of the cavern after her opponent.

"Not a bad idea. That might cut off Sadashi's norito." Benitsubasa said. Never mind the fact that it kept the rest of them out of the firing line.

"Not quite!" Minaka's voice rang out, though it sounded a bit distorted. No doubt the battling had done some damage to Minaka's equipment by now. "I assure you, my equipment can cover the entirety of this small island!"

"Fuck! Give me a break already!"

"We... we should go after them!" Katsurou suddenly spoke up.

"Wh-" Rini looked surprised. Her protest was cut off by the shock of realizing it was her _brother's_ suggestion of all people.

"Yeah, Moetatsuka might need me!" Nariko agreed, though her body trembled. No doubt her desire to support her sekirei was only just barely beating out her desire to stay away from the fight where it was at least marginally safer.

"Ugh, you're right." Benitsubasa sighed. "Come on then, Sairiko. Between the two of us we should be able to get these kids out there. Think you can make the jump?" Sairiko nodded her response, looking more steady on her feet now.

Benitsubasa grabbed Nariko and Katsurou while Sairiko took Rini and the two sekirei leapt, carrying them up and outside. The moment they did so, they were hit by a wave of heat, as if walking into an oven – ironic being that they had just entered a more open area.

They saw Moetatsuka, body flaring up with light and fire, giving off the incredible heat that now bombarded them.

"This may have been a mista-" Benitsubasa's eyes went wide, but she didn't get to finish. Moments after setting their feet down, Moetatsuka roared and unleashed a blast so intense that to call it fire may have no longer been accurate. A blazing ray arced through the air, bearing down on Sadashi. They more heard and felt the impact, as it became impossible to watch, the light searing their eyes. Standing in the vicinity was to risk an instant sunburn.

When it subsided and they could stop shielding their eyes, they saw Sadashi still standing. She'd reconnected her sword and shield, deploying a barrier of energy that covered her whole body from the front. The land around her was a scorched wasteland, charred and black – but she was fine behind her shield.

She lowered her defenses, the sword reforming and her shield returning to its reduced state. The fight would continue.

"Shit... It's like I thought. This is bad." Katsurou was biting his knuckle, eyes wide and fixed on Moetatsuka.

"Care to explain or should I start guessing?" Benitsubasa knew it was bad, but she couldn't figure out what he was getting at specifically.

"Look at Moetatsuka's hair."

"It's... shorter?" Nariko pointed out first. Indeed, her formerly long, luscious hair had seemingly burned down to only barely reaching her shoulder-blades.

"Yeah, I noticed it first when she busted the the cavern ceiling, and now it's even shorter. On top of whatever time-limit her norito has, I think the harder she fights the faster she burns through it."

"Moetatsuka will be bald?!" Nariko's jaw dropped.

"Not the problem here!" Benitsubasa snapped.

"That... makes an unfortunate amount of sense." Rini swallowed hard, ignoring her sister. If Sadashi could weather a massive blast like she just had, then Moetatsuka couldn't risk just going all out – she had to be tactical. The problem was, she may no longer have had the time to do so.

"I should help her then!" Sairiko stepped forward.

"That's a great thought and all, but you're spent kid." Benitsubasa pursed her lips. Even if she wasn't, how could she compete with Sadashi right now?

"Rini, I hate to ask this of you, but..." Sairiko turned to her ashikabi. "I... I don't think I can use my norito again... so..."

"No, I understand." Rini wrapped her arms around Sairiko. "You've got this, OK? I know you'll come back to me." Before anyone could say another word, a red light shone from Rini and flowed into Sairiko. She began to collapse, but Sairiko caught her.

"Well, I guess this is happening. I've got her." Benitsubasa took her unconscious daughter. "Listen kid, this is it. All that power you have in you, you have to bring it out. Push and then push even harder. Now get it done!"

"Understood." Sairiko seemed to stand taller than she had even just a second ago. Sword in hand she wasted no time going to Moetatsuka's side.

"Are you sure about this?" Moetatsuka asked.

"Yes." Sairiko nodded. "Now please, stand back and save your energy for as long as you can. I'll try to create an opening."

"OK- Wait, what?" Moetatsuka was caught off guard. Sairiko planned to fight alone?

"Good." She didn't give Moetatsuka a chance to argue and jumped forward to square off with Sadashi one more time.

"Is this a joke?" Sadashi tilted her head in disbelief with a condescending look in her eyes.

"No. It's time we settled this. There's nothing holding me back anymore, nor do I have a reason to hold back," Sairiko told her.

"And?" Sadashi narrowed her eyes.

"And..." Sairiko tightened her grip on her blade and flew forward, almost vanishing from sight entirely. Sadashi had to throw her blade up to block, barely making it in time. The clash was titanic, shaking the island. The ground beneath their feet shattered.

Sairiko had given her answer.

Sairiko swung again and again, hammering away at Sadashi. The area behind Sadashi suffered, the shockwave of each blow cleaving apart the earth. Each clash rattled the teeth of those looking on. Finally the meaning of their power was becoming clear. They began to truly comprehend what it was for two full power sekirei to fight.

They needed no explosions or fire; their raw, physical power alone may have been enough to shatter the island.

"Why!?" Sadashi set her feet and pushed back against Sairiko's next swing. "You shouldn't be able to fight me!"

"I'm not alone! You are!"

"I DON'T CARE! I'M ENOUGH!" Sadashi shoved her back and then, before Sairiko could reset her feet, pulled back and swung again. Her face was wild and her technique thrown to the wind. She meant only to overwhelm Sairiko.

Sairiko frantically lifted her blade to block, but it meant little. Sadashi's own blade cleaved right through it. She pulled her head aside, eyes wide-open in shock. She felt the sting of her cheek being sliced open.

The top end of her blade clattered to the ground and Sadashi rushed right through her guard. She turned around, holding up the flat of her now reduced blade. Sadashi's next, wild swing threw her right off her feet, sparks flying as Sairiko's sword gained a new scar, but at the very least was not cut down further.

Sairiko knew she'd used up most of her luck. She couldn't hope to compete with Sadashi's norito much longer. She needed to do something. From her position lying flat on her back, she lifted her sword up over her head and hurled it forward. It sailed toward and then past Sadashi, as she merely had to tilt her head to the side to avoid it.

It gave her only a scant, half-second extra to push herself back to her feet. She lifted her fists, not giving up just yet, but as Sadashi closed in on her, those fists kept to themselves. Any time she even considered throwing a punch, she had to pull back and remain on the defensive.

All she could do was run, but she was running out of room. Her margin for error was growing smaller and smaller as Sadashi's aggression increased. Soon enough, Sadashi caught up, her sword cleaving through the ground and tearing it out from under Sairiko's feet. Sairiko hit the ground once more and moments later Sadashi's boot slammed into her ribs.

She tumbled to a stop, gasping for breath. She rolled onto her back, looking up at Sadashi.

"It's over. I'm better." Sadashi glowered down at her.

"If it's over... why is no one crying for me?" Sairiko asked. Sadashi just scoffed and lifted her weapon, prepared to carry out Sairiko's execution.

"They will." It came down, but Sairiko reached out her hand. The handle of her sword flew into it in a reverse grip and she twisted her whole body to deflect Sadashi's blow.

Sairiko's sword glowed a bright, hot red and struck with inexplicable force. Now lying on her side, Sairiko kicked out and doubled Sadashi over. She then jumped up and rammed her head forward into Sadashi's chin. Finally, she grabbed Sadashi's collar and spun, throwing the girl over her shoulder one-handed.

"I told you! I'm not alone!" Sairiko gripped her sword with both hands and raised it high into the air. "MOETATSUKA! NOW!" She brought it down with all her strength. The full power of Moetatsuka's norito exploded forth from Sairiko's sword, combined with Sairiko's own strength.

Sadashi was beyond words. She screamed incoherently, flinging herself head and blade first into the attack.

Even Benitsubasa fell to a knee. The impact was cataclysmic. There was no keeping to their feet. Words to truly describe it were few and far between. The impact in their chests stole their breath away and they stood merely on the back end of it, experiencing only the back-blow.

And yet, as the dust settled, Sadashi still stood. The attack had split around her, the ocean flooding into deep chasms to her left and right, only to boil against the near molten stone.

"I'm... still... better..." Sadashi panted, her sword held in a shaking fist. Her hair was plastered to her face with sweat. The green glow had fled from her weapon and then, piece-by-piece, it crumbled to the ground. Machine or not, her norito had run its course.

"Believe what you want, but this fight is over for you," Sairiko said coldly, stabbing her blade into the ground beside her.

"No." Sadashi staggered forward. Sairiko stared her down, unimpressed, even as Sadashi reached her and swung her fist. The punch hit her square in the cheek, but barely even turned her head. She sighed and shoved the hilt of her sword into Sadashi's gut, bringing her to her knees, clutching at her stomach in pain.

"You're pathetic. I'm done." Sairiko turned to walk away. She made it five steps before she felt a blow to the back of her head, but it barely even made her stagger.

"I... I should have just killed them when I had the chance! You shouldn't even be here!" Sadashi screeched hysterically. Benitsubasa saw it at that moment. As desperate a battle as it had been, she hadn't once seen Sairiko lose her cool. She couldn't imagine she'd have won otherwise.

That did it though.

She fully expected in that moment to see Sadashi's body fly apart, cut in twain. Sairiko spun in a mad blur, but even in that moment of fury she maintained some amount of control. She batted Sadashi away, swatting her like an insect. Even then, Benitsubasa still half expected Sadashi to splatter on impact, but sekirei were tough.

"Idiot..." Benitsubasa sighed, shaking her head. Intact or not, Sadashi may have just pushed her luck too far. "Hey, you guys good here?"

"Y-yes..." Moetatsuka was down on one knee, chest heaving. She'd stretched her norito to the limit, and indeed her hair was now a short bob, barely halfway down her neck.

"I'll watch Rini." Nariko nodded.

Benitsubasa headed down the rocky slope, pausing for a moment by Sairiko, "Hey, nice job. Neat trick using Moetatsuka's power like that." Sairiko only nodded tiredly. She'd no doubt used up all the strength Rini had given her and then some. Finally able to rest, her body was giving out on her. "Take five, huh? Rini'll be real proud of you when she hears about this." Sairiko flushed and she gave another quick nod.

Benitsubasa continued on her way, finally reaching Sadashi where she lay at the end of the ditch her body had carved out before coming to a halt.

"So... you done?" Benitsubasa asked. Sadashi turned her eyes toward Benitsubasa, but didn't speak. It seemed she barely had the energy to move, let alone speak. Benitsubasa shook her head again, "Yeah, you're done. Hell, you're probably dead. Rini was probably right, extending your norito like that and taking that much damage... Not good."

"Whatever..." Sadashi choke the word out.

"Still being stubborn? I guess he messed with your head real good." Benitsubasa frowned as she knelt down. She guessed they didn't really have anyone to snap her out of it like with Sairiko and Moetatsuka.

"You know, I have a theory about that." Benitsubasa looked up to see that Katsurou had joined her. "So, you have anything to say or should I just explain?" He was looking at Sadashi who grit her teeth and remained silent.

"A... theory?"

"Well it's funny, isn't it? Sairiko reacts to Rini and then Moetatsuka reacts to Nariko. Pretty fortunate for us." Katsurou kept his gaze fixed upon Sadashi the whole time, though the sekirei avoided meeting his eyes.

"I... guess that was a lucky coincidence, yeah."

"You didn't forget at all did you, Sadashi?" Katsurou walked around to kneel on the other side of Sadashi. "So whose idea was it, really? Kidnapping them that is."

"Holy crap..." Benitsubasa breathed out slowly when she saw the look on Sadashi's face. She didn't deny it at all.

"You picked them for a reason, didn't you?"

"Fuck. Off." Sadashi said between gasping breaths.

"Was it jealousy?"

"What?" Benitsubasa was having trouble keeping up.

"I've had all this time to think about it, and that's what I keep coming back to."

"Don't..." Sadashi broke into a wheezing cough before sucking in a deep breath, "... make me... say it... again."

"So what, you really just wanted to prove you don't need us?"

"Yes..."

"You really think you're so much better?"

"Yes!" Sadashi bit back.

"Yeah, you're so much better than us stupid humans, right?"

"Of course we are!" she shouted, but only to break into another coughing fit.

"Bullshit. You're just as bad, maybe worse." He saw Sadashi flinch, face contorted as she took offense to his words. "You saw those girls with something you didn't have and you caused all this trouble in response. Seems like a typical, petty, human thing to do in my opinion."

"OK, and for those of us who aren't junior detectives?" Benitsubasa was just completely lost but Katsurou didn't even spare her a glance. He didn't need to though, it became clear soon enough.

"Because I pushed you away?" he asked the broken sekirei.

"You. Aren't. Important." Sadashi spat at him.

"I see." Katsurou let out a long sigh. "You know, there's really no excusing what you did. But, for what it's worth, I've learned a few things from all this. So, I'm sorry."

"Fuck that, don't apologize! This bitch is crazy! You're telling me she did all this on her own? On purpose? Fuck it, I'll kill her myself!" Benitsubasa shouted. She didn't care anymore. If Katsurou was right then she didn't even care to bring her back dead or alive. Least of all alive.

"No." Katsurou told her firmly. "I don't think we're quite so innocent in all of this."

"Eh?"

"This whole... humanization business. When do you think people begin feeling?" he asked Benitsubasa.

"I... don't..."

"Puberty? When they're old enough to walk? To talk? When they're born?"

"Oh... oh shit..." Benitsubasa pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What did you say? Not even one second?" Katsurou he continued to question her. "Imagine having it all ripped away from you forever. I don't think we spared them from much of anything. It was too late."

"So you think she reacted to you at one point?"

"Well? Did you?" he asked Sadashi the question this time. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She looked like she was choking, and this time it seemed it had nothing to do with her injuries. "Look, if you really did this because of me, then you owe me an answer don't you think?!"

"I was always there for you! You never thanked me! You never paid me any mind, and even then... I... and then..." She ran out of breath, tears streaming, still struggling to say her piece.

"Explain..." Benitsubasa sighed tiredly.

"Short version? Nariko's a little shit. All those sekirei she used to run around with, well, she'd tell them to bully me for her amusement. Sadashi was pretty much the only one who'd stick up for me, but fuck knows I didn't want to look grateful and admit I needed the help. And in the end I just walked away from her altogether and never looked back." It sounded small and petty when he said it out loud, but in the end abandonment was abandonment. Where else had she really had to go after that?

"Well shit..." When it all piled up, as much as she didn't want to feel sorry for the rogue sekirei, it was hard not to sympathize. She had a pretty good idea what that felt like.

"You're right, you know. I never did thank you. But... do you remember what I would always say when you showed up to save me?" Katsurou's attention was back on Sadashi.

"T-took you... long... enough..." Each word seemed more difficult than the last. Benitsubasa had to hand it to her, she was a tough one to be clinging on for so long.

"Yeah, because I always knew you'd show up. I was always counting on it." He shook his head. "Listen, I just... you have to tell me, do you regret doing this at all?"

Sadashi looked away from him, and for a moment Benitsubasa could see the boy deflate. Was she trying to say she didn't, even after everything? Then, as Sadashi stared up into the sky, she shut her eyes tightly and gave a small nod.

"Then give me a reason to say it again, huh?" Katsurou held out his hand. Sadashi honestly seemed too weak to take it, no matter how much she might want to. Benitsubasa knew better, though. Part of her hated it, that this stupid, selfish sekirei was the one who was meant for one of her kids. The other part of her was proud of Katsurou. How many times had Madoka had to put her back in line? How much of a vicious bitch had she been and yet he'd always just told her to knock it off and never gave up on her.

Sadashi had fucked up way worse, but this wasn't Benitsubasa's story. If this was going to be their story, then so be it. The goal had always been to bring all the sekirei home, right? She'd been confused when she'd found out Katsurou intended to go along, but now she understood.

Sadashi's trembling, pale hand finally made its way to Katsurou's. With a green flash, reminiscent of his mother, energy flowed from him and into Sadashi. Just like Rini, his eyes rolled back in his head and he began to fall, but with her renewed energy, Sadashi managed to catch him, cradling him in her arm.

"Hey," an edge of viciousness worked its way back into Benitsubasa's voice. "You better fucking earn this, got it?"

". . .yes. . ."

"Hey, Sairiko! Break's over! Get this gaggle of dumbasses back to the boat! I have something to take care of." Her lip curled as she thought of her final task on the island.

 **. . .**

Benitsubasa walked through the half-collapsed cavern. She'd found the twins, half-conscious and fortunately not flattened under a boulder and set them aside to grab on her way back out. At the back of the cavern she found a steel door. It was torn off its hinges in a matter of moments.

"So... it's worked out like this, has it?" She found an aged and wrinkled Minaka reclined in a chair before some monitors. He slowly turned to face her, and in his hand he held a small device. The man was barely more than skin and bones – it seemed his exile hadn't treated him well. She supposed evil intentions and plots for revenge weren't enough to live on.

"Yup." Benitsubasa crossed her arms. "How's this going down, then? Do I just break your neck, or-"

"Well I suppose you could, but then there's this little toy in my hand. Remember those jinki I stole?" Minaka grinned deviously. Always two steps ahead that one.

"Let me guess. Dead-man's switch?"

"You're very perceptive." Perhaps, but what was certain is that Minaka wasn't perceptive enough to follow her movements as she darted over to him.

"Neat." Benitsubasa clamped her hand down on his. "Let go of it then, I dare you." She looked down at him with utter disdain and disgust. "Well? What's wrong, Minaka?"

"Aaah, gah-" Minaka's pupils shrunk to pinpoints in his panic as his hand was slowly crushed in her grip. Blood began to leak down his arm as his palm was shredded by the device as its casing cracked under the pressure.

"What about you, Minaka? Don't you remember who I am? I'm not a fucking hero! Madoka's the nice one! **I'm the psycho bitch from hell** _ **you**_ **made**!" And Madoka wasn't there. She felt his fingers snap like straw and still she kept squeezing and squeezing until the device and his hand around it were nearly smashed flat. "Maybe this time you'll use that fucking brain of yours and learn, assuming I don't paint the walls with it right now!" She let go and the man just doubled over in tears, a choked whining coming out of his throat.

For a moment, she really did she him as just a broken old man. Somehow she didn't feel bad.

"Where's the fucking jinki? Be quick about it and I won't kill you." She rolled her eyes. Madoka really had rubbed off on her – and marriage had pretty much cemented all those nice guy habits she'd picked up from him.

It took a bit for Minaka to catch his breath, "No..." he breathed the word out. With surprising quickness, his good hand shot out and hit a button on his computer keyboard.

". . .oh fuck you and fuck me for not seeing that coming." Benitsubasa's eye twitched.

"Yes, Benitsubasa," his voice was hoarse and ragged from pain, "perhaps this part of my plan has gone far worse than I anticipated, but this is hardly over. And perhaps I can at least take you with me."

 **. . .**

A sudden rumble rocked the island, shaking Rini awake, "Bwuh?! Huh?"

"What the fuck!? What the fuck!?" She heard Nariko shouting as flames leapt up and out of the cavern. When the smoke cleared they saw a panting Benitsubasa standing on the other side of the hole leading into the cavern, a twin under each arm.

"Seriously, Minaka!? A fucking bomb!?" Benitsubasa shouted. Apparently she hadn't bothered to grab Minaka on her way out.

"So... um... what'd I miss?" Rini asked.

"I'll tell you when we get home..."

 **. . .**

A lot of things became clear that night, some good some bad. Since, unlike the others, Sadashi still had her memories, Benitsubasa was able to question her once she had the strength to speak and get a full understanding of exactly how everything had happened.

It wasn't that Katsurou had stopped visiting the tower, of course not, his whole family was there almost constantly. There had been many occasions for him to show up. No, he really had pulled away from the sekirei as much as possible. He'd begun avoiding Sadashi, and it was impossible to say that hadn't started the downward spiral that had led to the mess they were in.

Minaka had found the dejected sekirei and she'd been in a vulnerable emotional state, making it easy for him to turn her to his side. Once he'd retuned her to give her her strength back, she'd taken it upon herself to kidnap Sairiko and Moetatsuka, recognizing them as Rini and Nariko's favorite sekirei – she'd been jealous of them. Hyoushi had just been a random target to bolster their numbers.

Apparently she'd still had her doubts, but when Rini had reunited with Sairiko, it had reignited the spark of jealousy. She'd eventually hunted down the twins not just to rebuild their numbers, but because they were close to Nariko. The fact that they were easy targets who resided outside of the tower helped as well.

In the end, it had become a question of what to do with her. She wasn't like Sairiko or Moetatsuka, she wasn't a confused amnesiac who'd just been following orders. She'd done it all out of spite and heartbreak, and as much as Benitsubasa could sympathize as a fellow sekirei, it was impossible to ignore all the horrible things she'd done. Of course, they also couldn't ignore that Minaka had played a big role in manipulating her actions. On her own, she likely wouldn't have done much of anything – she wouldn't have been _capable_ of doing anything.

And it wasn't like she was dangerous anymore. Katsurou had gotten through to her. Sure, they could punish her, but she'd already seen the error of her ways. They couldn't say it was to deter the actions of others either. Her crimes hadn't been those of a human, and the other sekirei weren't likely to do anything. Hell, most of them were barely aware of what had gone down.

Beyond all that, Sadashi had been mangled and humiliated in her battles with Sairiko and Moetatsuka. In a way, she'd already been punished. She'd lost.

Benitsubasa and Madoka had discussed all of that, and decided to leave her in Katsurou's hands, though, admittedly, with a little bit of supervision. He was still young and inexperienced, and Sadashi was still very dangerous if she got out of line. Hopefully though, she'd just be a good sekirei and follow Katsurou as her partner.

Minaka had been telling the truth though, it wasn't quite over. There had been no trace of the jinki on the island. Somehow he'd managed to hide them away somewhere else. The scary thought was that it was with _someone_ else. He'd had a long time to gather new supporters. There were a lot of powerful, twisted, _greedy_ people in the world who might have wanted to work with him.

For now, though, they just needed to rest.

 **. . .**

Sadashi opened her eyes. Her whole body felt heavy. It seemed one night of rest wasn't going to be enough. She wasn't sure who she expected to be there when she woke. It wasn't surprising that someone was there, of course they'd want to keep an eye on her, but it was surprising who it was.

Though, really, it shouldn't have been.

"Y-you... you're... Saki?" Sadashi spoke, the first few words of the day giving her some difficulty.

The older sekirei pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning on. That day she wore casual clothing; a graphic t-shirt and tight jeans. She looked... unhappy.

"Who I am is Katsurou's mother," she spoke, her voice cool and even. "I'll make this simple. I don't like you. I hate you. The fact that my son has any connection to you makes me sick."

"I-I-"

"Be quiet." She never raised her voice. Somehow it made it all the more unsettling. "It's not right. You throw the world's most extreme tantrum and in the end you get what you want? No. You don't have an excuse, not like everyone else."

"I wouldn't hurt him. B-Benitsubasa said I had to earn it and I w-"

"No." It was a sudden and firm denial. "I have every reason to think you'd be loyal and no reason to think you'd turn on us again. I'm sure you two could be very happy, but I don't care." She stepped over to her bedside. "You... You don't deserve to be happy."

Sadashi felt like she couldn't breathe. The weight of those words was crushing. It was her own fault though, wasn't it? She'd done so many horrible things. She'd let that spark of hope light up in her that maybe it would still be OK. Even now, she was just so wrong.

"-shi!" A voice reached the room. She saw Saki's face tighten. She looked exasperated. "Sadashi!" Sadashi's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. Katsurou was calling her.

"Don't you-" Saki began to speak, but instinct had already taken over. Suddenly she didn't feel so exhausted. The bed-sheets never stood a chance as they were flung aside and she vaulted out of bed, directly past Saki. She could hear the older sekirei following her, but she was already out of the room and moving to the next one.

She flung the door open and only then did her legs begin to wobble as she felt her exhaustion creep back in. She saw Katsurou in his own hospital bed, frowning at her. Others were present as well. Madoka and Benitsubasa, as well as Katsurou's sisters and their sekirei. It wasn't surprising that he'd draw a larger crowd than her.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know? You were so beat up that recharging you knocked me out for a whole day!" Katsurou complained. Sadashi wobbled over to his bed. She was surprised no one stopped her.

"I-"

"Well, at least you came when I called." He smirked. "Took you long enough."

Sadashi let out a small but jubilant laugh, tears already streaming down her face. But then her stomach turned. She felt so happy, but Saki's words began ringing through her head. She took a step back, the smile that had unconsciously grown on her face fading away. She saw the confused looked on everyone's faces before she turned and dashed out into the hallway, chest heaving as something akin to panic gripped her. She saw a tight-lipped Saki standing a few feet away, staring at her.

Sadashi whimpered, "I... I don't know what to do..."

* * *

 **The end. Roll credits.**

 **See you around.**

 **HA! As if I'd end a fic like that!**

 **But yes, with Vegeta defeated the saiyan saga has come to an end. Err, I mean Sadashi and the first arc of this fic. Which was supposed to be the end. (Is this how Toriyama felt after the Namek saga?)**

 **But, as usual, fucking Godric has to beg for more and put ideas in my fucking head and HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET THAT MINATO REALISTICALLY HAS CHILDREN AT THIS POINT!? He left that review for chapter 3 like MONTHS ago and it only just clicked with me now.**

 **But yeah, realizing that I'd forgotten that and other things made me realize that while I don't HAVE to continue this, there's too much to work with not to. Or rather the ideas will eat away at me if I don't. I hate me sometimes.**

 **So yeah, Godric, you better still be fucking reading or I swear... I only have myself to blame for taking a year off. Son of a bitch.**

 **I DOUBT this will be another 50 freaking chapters, but we'll see what happens. I will also do my best to not take a year between chapters, but having two jobs might make it slow for a few months.**

 **Ummm, I think that's it.**

 **Tune in next time and watch as the story of Madoka's children continues.**

 **Til' next time!**


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